Despite the seasonality factor, annual urban headline inflation remained almost flat on an annual basis: Annual urban headline inflation recorded a minor increase to 4.48% in March 2021, from 4.46% in February 2021, and remained below the lower band of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) target range of 7% ± 2%. This came despite seasonality-driven factors that pushed food inflation to surge in March to +1.1%, up from -0.5% in February. The contribution of non-food inflation, however, contained the increase in food prices as it fell to +6% y/y in March, down from +6.9% in February. Annual core inflation showed the same trend and inched up slightly to +3.67% y/y in March from +3.65% y/y in February, signaling that demand-driven pressures are still muted.
Mona Bedeir
Senior Economist
T +202 3300 5722