Egypt’s annual urban inflation rate soared to 10.6% for the year to July, from 8.2% a month earlier, reflecting last month’s price hikes in the energy sector, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on 10 August.
In an effort to trim the widening budget deficit, the government on 5 July announced comprehensive price increases for gas and oil products. The increase is important to reduce the massive energy subsidies, which currently stand at 7% of GDP and 22% of total government spending, the World Bank said in its MENA Quarterly Economic Brief published in July. (CONTINUED - 328 WORDS)
