CAIRO: The annual rate of change of the index of consumer prices (inflation) at the level of the Egyptian national government recorded a slight increase during the month of June compared to May, as the rate during the month of June reached 10.2 percent versus 9.9 percent during May. The statement issued last week by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated that the monthly inflation rate has also seen an increase of 0.5 percent versus a decrease of 0.4 percent during the month of May. The statement also pointed to the high rate of annual inflation of the urban sector during the month, up to 10.7 percent versus 10.5 percent during the previous month and “increased as well as on a monthly basis by 10.5 percent compared with a decline by half a per cent during the month of May.” The statement added that the rate of inflation on the annual level in the countryside rose during the month of June amounted to 9.6 percent versus 9.2 percent during May “and also increased on a monthly basis to 9.6 percent compared with a decline rate of 6.4 percent during the month of May.” It pointed out that the price index for food and drink increased 7 percent against the year, despite a decline during the month of May last year of 8 percent. It also noted that the monthly inflation rate in the urban parts of the country recorded a rise of 5 percent for the year compared to a decline of 9 percent during the year last May. The statement pointed out that the rate of annual inflation in the prices of commodity groups such as food and drink levels increased 169 percent in June. The statement noted that the “highest rate of annual increase in food prices was vegetables, which reached 43 percent, while fruit rose by 20.6 percent, then meat and poultry by 18.8 percent, followed by oils and fats by 10.8 percent and the lowest percentage increase in the prices of grains and bread by 2.8 percent.” BM
