Egypt tops emerging markets in containing inflation – Cabinet report

Egypt has topped all other emerging markets in containing inflation, according to a report from the Egyptian Cabinet media centre.

According to the centre’s report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that Egypt achieved the largest annual decline in inflation rates in emerging markets in 2020 compared to 2019, with a decrease of about 8.2 percent.

It recorded an inflation rate of 5.7 percent in 2019/2020 compared to 13.9 percent in 2018/2019.

The report reviewed expectations of international institutions for the inflation rate in Egypt during 2020, with The Economist anticipating it to reach 4.7 percent, Fitch Ratings expecting 4.9 percent, Bloomberg predicting inflation at 5.9 percent, and Capital Economics expecting inflation to record 4.8 percent, all compared to 9.2 percent during 2019.

It added that the inflation rate will continue to be maintained within the target range of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) at nine percent (±three percent).

The report also reviewed developments in the inflation rate during 2020, having recorded 4.5 percent in October compared to 3.7 percent in September and 3.4 percent in August, 4.2 percent in July, 5.6 percent in June, 4.7 percent in May, 5.9 percent in April, 5.1 percent in March, 5.3 percent in February, and 7.2 percent in January.

According to the report, the decline in food commodity prices supports the stability of inflation rates.