Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation dropped to 13.0 percent in April from 14.2 percent in March, official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Thursday.
“The figures are lower than our expectations,” said Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Pharos Securities Brokerage.
“This month was the lowest month-on-month increase in three years.”
Egypt has been carrying out an IMF-backed economic reform programme since 2016 which saw inflation rise to a high of 33 percent the following year, Reuters reported.
“We expect next month’s figures to see a rise between 0.5 and 1 percentage points and for current rises in vegetable prices to be reflected,” Swaify noted.
The interior ministry and the military sold some basic foods at below-market prices due to continuous increases in fruit and vegetable prices.
“Based on our analysis, increased efforts made by the government to provide the market with ample supplies of volatile food items (fruits, meat and vegetables) prior to the Ramadan season, has helped cool off the supply/demand pressures on inflation,” Naeem Brokerage, which predicted headline inflation would fall to 13.2 percent, said in a note on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, CAMPAS said urban food and beverage prices saw a rise of 13.0 percent year-on-year and 0.5 percent month-on-month.
