By Adedapo Adesanya
Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation rose to 5.9 percent in April 2020, the country’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on Sunday.
The headline inflation rose to the present level from 4.6 percent it reached in March 2020, while year-on-year, it was 12.5 percent in April 2019.
For monthly inflation, CAPMAS said that it was up to 1.6 percent in April, up from 0.6 percent in March.
Annual inflation rate in urban cities has spiked to 5.9 percent in April from 5.1 percent in March, with a monthly rate of 1.3 percent and 2 percent for urban areas in the same month, according to CAPMAS.
CAMPAS attributed the increases to the hike in prices of vegetables, fruits, and seafood, which increased by 9.5 percent, 13.9 percent and 9.1 percent respectively.
The increases also came as a result of the prices increases in poultry and livestock with 5.5 percent, dairies and eggs with 0.4 percent, ready garments with 0.5 percent, and patient services that are introduced through the out-patient clinics with 0.9 percent, according to the statistical body.
It also noted that there was a decrease in the expenses on private transport by 2.9 percent largely due to the coronavirus.
Despite the increases over all inflation rates, they came within the limits that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) set for inflation by 9 percent.
The sustainable development plan in the North African nation for 2020/2021 expected the inflation rate to increase to 9.8 percent despite the precautionary measures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus that are expected to raise the rate of inflation.
In its outlook for global economy announced in April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected that Egypt’s consumer prices, which set the inflation rate, will record 5.9 percent over 2020, and up to 8.2 percent in 2021.
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