Egypt: Headline inflation accelerates further to fresh all-time high in July
Inflation rose further in July, coming in at 36.4%, up from June’s 35.8% and in line with market analysts’ expectations. July’s reading marked a fresh record high and was over four times the upper bound of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)’s 5.0–9.0% target range. Looking at the details of the release, the acceleration largely reflected stronger increases in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, which rose nearly 70% year on year. This more than offset prices for transport increasing at a markedly slower rate.
Consequently, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation coming in at 26.3% in July, up from June’s 24.4%. Meanwhile, core inflation receded to 40.7% in July, down from June’s all-time high of 41.0%.
Finally, consumer prices increased by 1.84% in July over the previous month, which was below the 2.12% rise seen in June.