Egypt’s annual inflation hits 5-year high

Cairo: Egypt’s annual inflation nationwide reached 32.9 per cent in February 2023, the highest rate since the end of 2017, according to an official report.

The prices of food and beverage went up by 61.5 per cent, transportation, by 19.4 per cent, healthcare, by 16.8 per cent, and clothes and shoes, by 18.9 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted the report issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, as saying.

Meanwhile, the prices of various commodities and services climbed by 24.7 per cent, it added.

The Egyptian pound has lost about half of its value since March 2022, when the Central Bank of Egypt started to order rounds of devaluations amid a shortage of foreign currency, particularly the U.S dollar, necessary for imports.