Egypt’s urban inflation jumps to 14.4% in February

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation jumped to 14.4 percent last month from 12.7 percent in January, CAPMAS, the state statistics agency, said on Sunday.

Inflation had dropped to 12 percent in December after an increase in fuel, electricity and transportation prices last year pushed the rate to 17.7 percent in October 2018.

Prices in the transport sector rose 32 percent, while food and beverage prices increased 15.3 percent year-on-year, CAPMAS said.

The accommodation, water, electricity, gas and fuel sector price surged 15.2 percent, it added.

Egypt has implemented a number of austerity measures to meet the terms of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme it signed in late 2016.