The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics announced today, Sunday, that the annual inflation of the total of the country rose last March to 12.1%, compared to 4.8% for the same month the previous year, and consumer prices for the whole of Egypt rose last month on a monthly basis by 2.4%, according to German news agency.
In a statement on its website, the agency attributed the monthly rise in consumer prices to an increase in the prices of "cereals and bread" by 11%, "meat and poultry" by 7%, and dairy and eggs by 5%.
To some extent, the price increases were caused by a shortage of goods after the Russian war on Ukraine, which led to inflation exceeding the central bank's target level of between 5% and 9% and its overnight lending rate of 9.25%.
With regard to urban inflation, it exceeded 10% for the first time since May 2019 to record 10.5% last March on an annual basis, compared to 8.8% in the previous month, and inflation rose on a monthly basis by 2.2%.
Inflation will continue to rise in the coming months
Some analysts expect inflation to rise significantly in the coming months, and Radwa Al-Swaify of Pharos Securities said the rise in inflation trends is widely expected, and will peak by August 2022, after which it will begin to stabilize.
Last month, the Central Bank of Egypt raised the interest rate by 100 basis points, against the backdrop of the economic repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine, as well as the decline in the exchange rate of the pound.
And “Bloomberg” news agency predicted that inflation will accelerate again in April, with the repercussions of the impact of the recent decline in the value of the pound on the economy.
It is noteworthy that Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, and it has been severely affected by the rise in its global price. It is also working to reduce the impact of the war on the tourism sector, knowing that Russian and Ukrainian tourists represented about a third of the total arrivals.
The Egyptian authorities requested consultations with the International Monetary Fund regarding new support that might include a loan, and Gulf countries pledged to provide more than $20 billion in deposits and investments to support the Egyptian economy.