Egypt's annual headline inflation eased for the third consecutive month to 9.2 percent in March 2016 from 9.5 percent in February, compared to 11.8 percent in the same month last year, state statistics body CAPMAS said Sunday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered 180 points, CAPMAS said. However, the monthly CPI rose by 1.4 percent as some food commodities saw price hikes, such as rice, meat, poultry, vegetables, fruits in addition to pharmaceuticals, CAPMAS said. The annual urban inflation also slowed slightly to 9 percent in March from 9.1 percent in February. The Egyptian government has been introducing discounted foodstuff nationwide since November 2015 in an effort to curb rising food prices. In December 2015, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided to raise interest rates by 50 basis points in an effort to mitigate inflation as it expected the rate to continue to rise despite the fall in prices internationally due to "underlying domestic inflationary pressures." Egypt's annual core inflation rose to 8.41 percent in March from 7.5 percent in February, the CBE said on Sunday. source: Ahram Online
