Cairo - Decypha: Egypt’s inflation rate has reached 30.2%, marking its highest level in 30 years in February 2017, according to the latest figures from the country’s Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
February is the fourth consecutive month where the nation’s inflation has continued to rise. The continuous rise is due to a series of government decisions, beginning with the floatation of the Egyptian pound, followed by subsidy cuts, and the introduction of a new value-added tax (VAT).
Inflation in food prices, in particular, has soared to hit 41.7% in February 2017 on a year-on-year basis, according to CAPMAS. However, data shows that the rate of monthly increase in food price inflation is slowing down.
Analysts see the slowdown of the rapidness of inflation growth as a positive sign, indicating that prices may level off by the end of the fiscal year 2016/2017, according to Al Bawaba.
Expected increase in the dollar may result in further slowdown of sales across different sectors, a fact that economists fear will further limit spending power, alongside higher inflation, promoting more slowdown in economic growth, and thus leading to more hikes in interest rates.
By Decypha News Editorial Team
