Egypt’s April inflation rate increased to 13.9%

Data released on Saturday by the statistics agency CAPMAS revealed that Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation increased to 13.9% in April from 13.6% in March, which was in line with analyst estimates.

Prices at the end of April were 1.5% higher than those at the end of March, month over month. Price reductions of 1.5% were observed for food and drink. Food and drink prices increased by 6.0% annually.

A median of analysts surveyed by Reuters predicted that annual inflation had increased to 13.9%. They stated that the primary reason was a rise in the official price of gasoline.

Foreign investors withdrew billions of dollars from Egyptian treasuries after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which caused inflation to skyrocket. In September 2023, headline inflation reached a record 38.0% increase.

According to central bank data, the M2 money supply increased slowly in the year ending in March, falling from its peak of 33.9% at the end of February to 25.8%.

Egypt negotiated a $8 billion financial support package with the International Monetary Fund in March of last year, depreciated its currency, and boosted interest rates by 600 basis points in an effort to stabilize its finances.