Egypt’s annual headline inflation rate accelerated to 4.9 percent in May, up from 4.4 percent in April, owing to the recent preventative measures against the coronavirus and the increase in prices of vegetables and fresh fruits, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
In its monthly inflation statistical bulletin, released on Monday, the CBE said that the monthly headline inflation also rose in May to 0.7 percent, compared to 0 percent in May 2020.
Food stuff commodities’ price annual inflation rate increased in May to 1.7 percent, up from -0.3 percent in April, according to the CBE.
Non-food commodities’ prices annual inflation rate also increased — for the second consecutive month — to 6.3 percent, up from 6.1 percent in April, owing to the increase in the price of services.
Egypt’s annual inflation rate in urban areas rose to 4.8 percent in May 2021, up from 4.1 percent in April, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Thursday.
It also pointed out that the general consumer price index (CPI) across the country reached 112.9 points in May 2021, increasing by 0.6 percent from April 2021.
Moreover, Egypt’s annual inflation rate jumped 4.9 percent in May 2021, up from 4.4 percent in April, and 5 percent in May 2020.
On Thursday, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee is anticipated to convene in order to review Egypt’s key interest rates.
In December 2020, the CBE reset its inflation target to be at 7 percent (±2 percentage points) on average during the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 9 percent (±3 percentage points) on average that was targeted for the same quarter, as a bid to support Egypt’s macroeconomic stability.
The current key interest rates are 8.25 percent, 9.25 percent, 8.75 percent, and 8.75 percent for the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, the rate of the main operation, and the discount rate, respectively.
