Urban inflation rises, core rate steady

Egypt’s urban consumer inflation accelerated in October, driven by higher consumer spending on food and transport, the state CAPMAS statistics agency reported yesterday.

CAPMAS said inflation rose to an annual 10.4% in October from 10.1% in September. The central bank, meanwhile, said core inflation was 11.15% in the year to October - unchanged from the previous month.

Core inflation strips out subsidised goods and volatile items including fruit and vegetables.

Inflation has been pushed up this year by a weaker Egyptian pound, though the currency has steadily appreciated against the dollar since the army deposed former president Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

“This is a big rise for inflation within one month,” CAPMAS head Abu Bakr al-Gindy told Reuters. “According to our statistics there was an obvious increase in the prices of meat, other food products and transport.”

Gindy attributed the increase in the prices of meat to high demand during last month’s Eid al-Adha holiday.

Transport prices have gone up because more people are using buses and taxis in the absence of train services suspended due to security concerns. Gindy said inter-city travel had increased since the academic year began in mid-September.

Authorities have imposed a state of emergency and a night-time curfew since August 14 after the crushing of pro-Mursi protest camps led to nationwide unrest.