Urban consumer price inflation in Egypt crept higher in the year to September, the state statistics agency CAPMAS said on Sunday, but not as high as the consensus forecast of nine analysts polled by Reuters.
One analyst said the latest figure indicates that a sharp jump in fruit and vegetable prices in August was seasonal and that inflation will likely remain steady in the coming months.
Inflation in the 12 months to September was 11.0 percent, up from 10.9 percent in the 12 months to August, driven mainly by food and beverage prices, CAPMAS said on its website.
"The main thing was that fruits and vegetables rose sharply (in price)" in September due to bad weather, said Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist with EFG-Hermes.
"We have not seen further increases in other food categories and even some food items fell month on month in September."
The nine analysts had forecast an average 11.12 percent for urban inflation — the most closely watched indicator of prices — with forecasts ranging from 9.6 percent to 12.9 percent.
Abu Basha predicted inflation would hover around 10-11 percent then rise to around 12 percent in December.
The relatively stable inflation outlook indicates the central bank’s monetary committee will leave key overnight interest rates steady when it next meets on Nov. 4, he added.
