CAIRO: The spike in Egyptian inflation, will last a few months and the rate could rise above the current 11.8 percent as the economy absorbs the impact of supply shocks, the finance minister said on Monday.
Egyptian inflation rose to 11.8 percent in October from 9.6 percent in September. This is temporary phenomenon and will only last a few months but it could go higher, Youssef Boutros-Ghali told Reuters on the sideline of a conference in Dubai. The secondary effects of the government s decision in July to raise fuel prices and a poultry shortage after a devastating outbreak of bird flu in February are among factors driving prices higher, Boutros-Ghali said. Egypt s central bank raised its overnight deposit and lending rates by 50 basis points in response to inflationary pressures in November.
