Egypt: Inflation accelerates in May
Consumer prices rose 1.1% in May compared to the previous month, up from the 0.5% in April. The latest consumer price increase was driven by more expensive for food and beverages, and hotels, cafes and restaurants.
Inflation accelerated to 14.1% in May, up from 13.0% in April and further outside of the Central Bank’s Q4 CY 2020 target range of 9.0% plus or minus three percentage points. Meanwhile, core inflation decelerated to 7.8% in May from 8.1%, and annual average inflation ticked up to 14.3% from 14.1%.
Looking ahead, inflation could face further upward pressure from June as the government cuts fuel subsidies, although the appreciation of the Egyptian pound since January should somewhat counteract this effect.