Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation eased to 9.4 percent in June from 14.1 percent in May, official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Wednesday, a sharper decline than many analysts had expected after last week's fuel
price hikes.
"That's a bigger than expected drop," said Allen Sandeep, head of research at Naeem Brokerage. "Good news for the markets, as this could raise hopes for a rate cut tomorrow."
The Central Bank of Egypt's monetary policy committee will meet on Thursday to decide whether to move its key interest rates. It held them steady at its last two meeting, in May and March, after a surprise cut in February.
Of 15 contributors to a Reuters poll, Naeem was the only one to predict a cut on Thursday.
Egypt raised fuel prices last week by between 16 percent and 30 percent as part of an IMF-backed economic reform program that saw inflation rise to a high of 33 percent in 2017.
