- The Central Bank of Egypt revealed that the basic consumer price index, prepared for its part, recorded a monthly rate of 0.3% in April 2024, compared to 1.7% in April 2023 and 1.4% in March 2024.
- The Central Bank explained, in a statement today, Thursday, that the annual core inflation rate fell to 31.8% in April 2024, compared to 33.7% in the previous March.
- This morning, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics revealed that the annual inflation rate in cities declined to 32.5% by the end of April 2024, compared to 33.3% in the previous March.
- The agency said, in a statement, that the inflation rate in cities rose on a monthly basis to 1.1% in April from 1% in March.
- According to the agency, the general consumer price index for the entire republic reached 223.6 points for the month of April 2024, recording an annual inflation of 31.8%, compared to 33.1% for the month of March 2024.
- The agency attributed the most important reasons for this decline to the decrease in prices of the cereals and bread group by 3.7%, the meat and poultry group by 1.8%, the oils and fats group by 2.5%, and the other food products group by 5.7%.
- On the other hand, the prices of the dairy, cheese and eggs group increased by 0.6%, the fruit group by 3.5%, the vegetable group by 0.3%, the sugar and sugary foods group by 0.9%, the coffee, tea and cocoa group by 0.6%, the fish and seafood group by 1.1%, and the smoke group. By 8.6%, the group of fabrics by 1.7%, the group of ready-made clothing by 6.7%, the group of shoes by 2.9%, the group of actual rental of housing by 0.8%, the group of electricity, gas and other fuel materials by 4.6%, the group of household appliances by 1.3%, the purchase group Vehicles by 1.7%, group spent on private transportation by 6.4%, group of transportation services by 3.6%.
- The agency indicated that the monthly inflation rate for the entire republic recorded 0.9% for the month of April 2024, compared to 1.0% for the month of March 2024.
- The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt had decided, in an extraordinary meeting on March 6, to raise the Central Bank’s basic return rates by 6% all at once, to reach 27.25% for deposits, 28.25% for lending, and 27.75% for the central bank’s main operation rate and the credit and discount rates. .
- The committee said, in its statement accompanying this decision, that it was necessary to accelerate the process of monetary restriction in order to accelerate inflation’s arrival on its downward path and ensure a decline in monthly rates of inflation, stressing the importance of controlling inflationary expectations, and what the restrictive policy requires of raising basic interest rates to reach Real rates of return to positive levels.
- She explained that the local economy has recently been affected by a shortage of foreign currency resources, which has led to the emergence of a parallel market for the exchange rate and a slowdown in economic growth, and the external repercussions resulting from global inflationary pressures have continued to accumulate coinciding with the global economy being exposed to successive shocks, pointing out that those shocks Its repercussions led to a rise in uncertainty and inflation expectations, which increased inflationary pressures. The resulting exchange rate movements, in addition to the rise in global prices of basic commodities, in addition to local supply shocks, led to the continuation of inflationary pressures, which in turn pushed the general inflation rate to record levels. Standard.
- She explained that although annual inflation rates have slowed recently, they are expected to exceed the target rate announced by the Central Bank of Egypt of 7% ± 2% on average during the fourth quarter of 2024.
- According to the Central Bank, it is expected that eliminating the parallel market for foreign exchange will reduce inflationary expectations and curb inflation, and thus general inflation is expected to follow a downward path in the medium term, after the gradual decline of inflationary pressures associated with unifying the exchange rate.
- He pointed out that the risks surrounding inflation expectations include regional geopolitical tensions, fluctuations in global commodity markets and global financial conditions, explaining that in light of those risks and changes, a re-evaluation of the targeted inflation rates that he sets will be clearly announced.
- The Central Bank believes that the decision to raise the basic return rates by 6% will help restrict monetary conditions in a manner consistent with the targeted path to reduce inflation rates, pointing out that these levels will be maintained until inflation converges with its desired path.
