Egypt's Urban Consumer Inflation Hits 8.7%

Annual urban consumer inflation shot up to 8.7 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in February, up from 6.6 percent in January according to data just released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). Month-on-month (m-o-m) urban consumer inflation also reached 2.8 percent last month, its highest levels since September 2010.

The inflation rate "could rise more given the ongoing unrest and huge losses in the value of the Egyptian pound of around 10 percent of its value since the start of the year," EFG Hermes economist Mohamed Abu Basha told Reuters. Abu Basha attributed the hike to higher imported food and fuel prices resulting from the local currency's rapid devaluation.

Food price inflation reached 9.7 percent y-o-y in February, and 2.9 percent m-o-m. Electricity price inflation reached 16.2 percent y-o-y and natural gas and butane gas hit 51.8 percent y-o-y. Healthcare inflation went up to 13.6 percent y-o-y and 7.6 percent m-o-m in February.