Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation rate increased to 13% year on year in November, up from October's 10.4% year on year to register its highest level since 2010, according to a Tuesday report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAMPAS). Meanwhile, the overall consumer price index (CPI) in November increased 0.9% from October, while the annual inflation rate reached 14.2% compared to November 2012, registering 144.6 points. The total inflation rate from January to November reached 10.2% compared to the same period last year. The Central Bank of Egypt has cut interest rates three times by 150 basis points in total, most recently on 5 December when it unexpectedly lowered rates after keeping them unchanged in November, which was seen by analysts a means of curbing inflation. The bank cut its overnight deposit rate to 8.25% and its overnight lending rate to 9.25%. It also cut its discount rate and the rate it uses to price one-week repurchasing and deposit operations to 8.75%. CAPMAS stated that the prices of food and drink products increased by 0.3% in November compared to October to register 166.7 points. According to another recent report by CAPMAS, 25.3% of the country's population lay beneath the poverty line in 2012/2013, an uptick from 25.2% in 2010/2011.
