Egypt’s inflation accelerates to 21.3% in December – CAPMAS

Egypt’s annual inflation rate has increased to 21.3 percent in December, up from 18.7 percent in the previous month, according to Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on Tuesday.

The figures exceed the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 15 economists that had projected inflation of 20.50 percent.

The inflation figure was the highest since December 2017, when it hit 21.9 percent. The price rises followed a currency devaluation in October and restrictions on imports.

Egyptian pound decreased by about 14.5 percent on 27 October and its value continue to weaken slowly and incrementally in November and December.

The total consumer price index for the republic was 143.6 points for December 2022, compared to 2.1 percent from November 2022.