Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rose to 15% in September, its highest in four years, data from the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday.
Inflation increased to 15% year-on-year from 14.6% in August, according to CAPMAS data. This was the highest since November 2018, when it hit 15.7%.
The inflation rate for all of Egypt was at 15.3% in September, the same as August, the data showed.
A Reuters poll of nine economists had expected inflation to come in at 14.7% and core inflation at 17%.
The pick-up in inflation was caused by a higher-than-forecast month-on-month increase in prices, which rose by 1.6% in September, pushed up mainly by food and tobacco prices, Naeem Brokerage said in a note
Egypt's central bank, whose Monetary Policy Committee meets next on Nov. 3, targets a rate between fine and nine percent, but in June said it expected inflation to exceed the target in the fourth quarter before subsequently declining.
