CAPMAS: Month-over-month inflation jumps historic 11 percent in February figures

Egypt’s annual inflation rate continues to reach new heights, coming in at 36 percent in February, a nearly 5 percent increase from January, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics announced on Sunday.

While still high in January at 31.2 percent, annual inflation had gradually fallen each month from the record high of 38 percent in September.

But February’s figures erase much of that decline and see inflation skyrocketing again. 

Month-over-month inflation saw a record-setting jump in February, appreciating from 1.7 percent between December and January to 11 percent between January and February. 

Analysts had forecast that inflation rates in urban areas would continue to decline on an annual basis, from 29.8 percent in January to 25.1 percent. Instead, it rose to a staggering 35.7 percent in February.

Rapid increases in prices, particularly in food, are the main drive for the rising inflation rates, according to CAPMAS. Food and drink prices rose by 15.9 percent in February, compared to a 1.4 rise in the previous month.

The price hikes were felt more heavily in the meat and poultry grouping of the consumer price index (25 percent increase), cereals and bread group (14.2 percent), fish group (11.5 percent), dairy, cheese and eggs group (12.8 percent), oils group (14.1 percent), fruit group (7.3 percent), and vegetables (9.2 percent).

In February’s figures, food prices rose year-over-year by 48.5 percent, up from 47.5 percent in the year-over-year calculation for January.

Tobacco products rose by 8.5 percent in February, reaching an 87 percent annual increase.

On Wednesday, the Central Bank of Egypt raised the interest rate by an unprecedented 6 percent in a bid to stave off inflation by withdrawing liquidity from the market. The exchange rate was floated on the same day, and the national currency lost 60 percent of its value as it fell from LE31 to the dollar to around LE49.5.