By Doaa Farid Urban inflation has declined to register 8.5% in November, compared to 11.5% in October, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Wednesday. CAPMAS attributed the drop to a decrease in the prices of vegetables, fruits and ready-made clothes. Meanwhile, the consumer price index (CPI) has dropped by 1.7% in November to 10.1%, compared to 11.8% in October. As for the inflation rates for 2014, Minister of Planning Ashraf El-Araby previously stated in an interview with Daily News Egypt that he expected high inflation rates in late November "because the government has taken action regarding the energy subsidies, which led to an increase in the prices of petroleum products." El-Araby expects inflation rates to surpass 10% in 2014. However, he claimed that this would be paralleled by social security procedures to protect low-income citizens. In July, inflation rates witnessed their highest surge since 2008, affected by the government's decision to reduce spending on energy subsidies and to raise the prices of fuel and gas products in an attempt to reduce the 14% GDP budget deficit, according to CAPMAS. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission statement on Egypt, issued in late November, stated that interest rate actions adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) after the July increases in prices have helped anchor inflation expectations.
