Egypt's annual headline inflation dropped in September to register 14.6 percent, down from the 16.4 percent registered in August and up from a one-digit inflation rate of 9.4 percent in the same month last year, the state statistics body CAPMAS said in an emailed Monday statement. The monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered 1.3 percent, a slight decrease from the 2 percent registered in August. Egypt, which relies heavily on imports to support its population of over 91 million, has been suffering from an acute shortage of the US currency in the wake of the 2011 uprising which was followed by political and security unrest that has turned away tourists and foreign investors, two major sources of hard currency. CAPMAS attributed the year-on-year hike in inflation rate to the increase in grains and bread by 23.4 percent in September 2016 compared to the same month last year. Vegetable prices increased by 18 percent and food and beverages process rose by 15.3 percent year-on-year. Last week, a media campaign was launched calling for hypermarkets to decrease the process of basic consumer goods to lower inflation rates and help the average and low-income citizens. The majority of hypermarket chains joined the initiative, decreasing prices up to 30 percent, and announcing that the discounts would last from one to three months.
