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CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's annual inflation rate rose to 23.27 percent in December 2016 compared to 19.43 percent in November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in a statement Tuesday, referring to the data of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMS).
"In the meantime, core CPI (consumer price index) computed by the CBE increased by 4.35 percent (m/m) in December 2016 compared to 5.33 percent (m/m) in November 2016. The annual rate increased to 25.86 percent in December from 20.73 percent in November," the CBE stated.
Egyptian citizens have been suffering soaring prices over the past few months, particularly after the CBE allowed in early November full float of the Egyptian local currency to limit shortage of foreign currency. The official exchange rate of the U.S. dollar then rose from less than 9 pounds to over 18 pounds at the moment.
The move was part of a strict economic reform plan including austerity measures and energy subsidy cuts encouraged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which handed Egypt later in November 2.75 billion dollars as the first batch of a 12-billion-dollar loan to finance its reform program.
The CAPMS said in a statement Tuesday that food and beverage prices consequently rose 29.3 percent in December 2016 compared to 15.2 percent in December 2015.
Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past few years of political instability and relevant security issues that led to the decline of tourism, foreign currency reserves and foreign investments.
In an earlier report in January, the CBE stated that Egypt's total foreign debt increased by about 4.4 billion dollars to hit 60.2 billion as of end of September 2016, compared to 55.8 billion in the end of June 2016 and 46.1 billion in the first quarter of last fiscal year 2015/2016.
Egypt's fiscal year is from early July to end of June.
The total foreign debt currently represents 16.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), while the total domestic debt rose by end of September 2016 to reach 2.758 trillion Egyptian pounds (about 154.4 billion dollars).
Following the 2011 popular uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's foreign currency reserves declined from 36 billion dollars to 13.5 in early 2013 until it gradually rose to 24.265 billion by end of December 2016.
The Egyptian leadership is trying hard to revive economy through paving the way for foreign investments via national mega projects, including the development of the Suez Canal region, the upgrade of road networks, the reclamation of vast areas of lands, the establishment of power plants and the construction of a new administrative capital city. Enditem
