Egypt Inflation at 15-Year Low

Egypt’s inflation rate of 5% in 2020 was its lowest for 15 years, according to a Cabinet report, which highlighted government initiatives to counter the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Government controls on food prices helped reduce the inflation rate, defying forecasts by some major global institutions, the report said. The Economist expected the rate to reach 5.6% in 2020, while Fitch Ratings and Bloomberg suggested 5.9%.

According to the report, Egypt’s success in controlling food prices came after a sharp rise in inflation in 2017 due to the start of an economic reform program and liberalization of the exchange rate. The Cabinet report said that Egypt achieved the largest annual decline in inflation among emerging market countries, with the figure falling by 4.2 percentage points from 9.2% in 2019.