CAIRO: According to data released by the nation’s statistics agency, CAPMAS, Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate dropped to 32.5 percent in April from 33.3 percent in March, slowing down somewhat more than analysts had predicted.
Prices increased by 1.1 percent in April compared to 1.0 percent in March. While food prices decreased by 0.9 percent in April, they were still 40.5 percent higher than a year earlier. According to a survey of 17 analysts, annual inflation will reduce to a median rate of 32.8 percent, maintaining the downward trend that began in September, when inflation peaked at 38.0 percent.
The central bank signed an $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund on March 6, the same day it tightened its monetary policy and allowed the currency to plummet.
In the March agreement, Egypt assured the IMF it would continue tightening if needed to stop the further decline in household purchasing power. As part of a commitment to the IMF, the government also raised the price of various fuels, including diesel and gasoline, last month.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s non-oil private sector kept contracting in April, as evidenced by the country’s S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index, which fell marginally to 47.4 from 47.6 in March. This month is the 41st row that falls below the 50.0-point line, which divides expansion from contraction. According to the rating agency, the employment sub-index decreased from 50.8 in March to 49.7 in April.
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