Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation soared to a five-year high of 18.7% in November, data from state-run statistics agency CAPMAS showed Thursday, as the impact of the devaluation of the pound piles pressure on consumers in the North African country.
The index climbed 18.7% year-on-year in November from 16.2% a month earlier driven by a 29.9% increase in food and beverage costs, school tuition fees and a noticeable jump in the recreation & culture index.
Monthly inflation also accelerated by 2.7% year-on-year in November 2022 compared to 0.5% the same month last year. Egypt has been hit by the knock-on effect of global commodity price rises that accelerated amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, despite two major currency devaluations this year and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package.
On Tuesday, the central bank said that Egypt’s net foreign reserves increased slightly in November to $33.5 billion compared with $33.4 billion at the end of October as the Arab world’s most populous country awaits the final approval of a $3 billion IMF loan—which is key to shoring up the economy.
Egypt expects approval of the IMF Extended Fund Facility package next week as the fund’s executive board is set to hold a meeting at the request of authorities in the North African country.
