CAIRO: Inflation in Egypt declined to 10 percent in the year to May 2007 from 11.7 percent in the year to April, a monthly government report on economic indicators showed on Monday. The month-to-month rate slid to -0.2 percent in May from 0.4 percent in April. The month-to-month rate in May 2006 was 1.3 percent, according to figures provided by the Egyptian Cabinet s Information and Decision Support Centre. The new numbers differ from previous calculations announced by Minister of State for Economic Development Osman Mohamed Osman in mid-June, which put the year-to-year inflation rate for the same period at 10.5 percent. Both numbers, however, pointed to a downward trend in inflation. The government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said more than a month ago that Egypt is targeting an inflation rate of 8 percent by July or August of this year. The central Bank of Egypt Monetary Policy Committee is due to meet later this week and bankers expect it to keep overnight corridor interest rates unchanged, especially given declining inflation.
