The annual inflation dropped slightly in March while monthly inflation declined remarkably – an indicator on a relative calmness in prices before anticipated inflation procedures in the coming months.
In its monthly report on Wednesday, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the rate of inflation dropped to 13.8 percent in March compared to annual inflation of 13.9 percent in February.
The CAPMAS announced a 0.9 percent increase in Egypt’s inflation rate in March compared to the previous month of February of a 1.8 percent increase. It said that the rise of the record number of consumers’ prices in March was pushed by the hike of vegetables' prices at 3.9 percent and poultry at 3.1 percent.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Wednesday that Egypt's inflation rate declined to 8.9 percent in March 2019 from 9.2 percent in February of the same year.
Radwa El-Swaify, Head of Research at Pharos Securities Brokerage, said: “Annual inflation will stabilize between 14 and 15 percent during August and the effects of lifting subsidies on fuel products are expected to be seen more in the monthly figures than the annual figures.”
The CBE’s dropped basic interest rates by 200 basis points in February and March 2018. To curtail inflation, the central bank’s monetary policy committee raised interest rates by 700 basis points over eight months following the IMF deal. It cut them by 100 bps last month.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Egypt’s economy has continued to show strong growth, with unemployment falling to its lowest levels since the 2011 popular revolution.
“The economy continues to grow robustly, unemployment is at its lowest level since 2011, foreign exchange reserves are at comfortable levels, and public debt is on a downward trajectory supported by growth-friendly consolidation efforts,” Lagarde said in a statement published on the IMF's official website.
