CAIRO, May 6 (Reuters) – Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate slowed unexpectedly to 14.9% in April from 15.2% in March, figures from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Wednesday.
Month-on-month, prices rose by 1.1% in April, it said. Food and beverage prices fell by 0.7% on a monthly basis but rose 6.7% year on year.
• A Reuters poll of 14 analysts had forecast inflation would climb to 15.9% in April, with the analysts saying the war with Iran had triggered an increase in electricity prices at the start of the month, a weakening of the currency and an increase in commodity prices, especially poultry.
• Annual inflation has plunged from a record high of 38% in September 2023, helped by an $8-billion financial support package signed with the International Monetary Fund in March 2024.
• May inflation figures may be boosted by an increase in natural gas prices for several energy-intensive industries announced on May 3.
(Reporting by Momen Saeed Atallah, Writing by Ahmed Elimam and Patrick Werr, Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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