Data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) showed core inflation stood at 40.26 percent on an annual basis in February, up from 31.24 percent in January.
In a statement on Thursday, the CBE explained that the main consumer price index registered a monthly rate of 8.1 percent in February 2023, compared to 1.2 last February.
Every 10 percent increase in the rate of the US dollar in Egypt has an effect on inflation in the form of an average increase of one percent.
This is mostly reflected in emerging markets and imports whose bills are paid in US dollars.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that annual consumer price inflation in Egypt’s cities has risen more than expected, reaching 31.9 percent in February, the highest level in five and a half years, after it stood at 25.8 percent in January.
Rising core inflation
That is what the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in December that the rate hike, which rose by 3 percent, came after global expectations for commodity prices fell slightly.
This is compared to the expectations presented to the Monetary Policy Committee at the previous meeting.
Many central banks abroad have now signaled that inflation may have peaked and is starting to fall.
Similarly, annual core inflation continued to climb for more than a year, reaching 21.5 percent in November, the highest rate since November 2017.
Inflation picked up in November due to the depreciation of the Egyptian pound in October 2022, the increase in the money supply and the ongoing negative effects of the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The annual inflation rate of food commodities is mainly driven by the increase in inflation in basic food commodities since early 2022.