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Egypt's Inflation Slows in July

A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Egypt's Inflation Slows in July

A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A man walks in front of the new headquarters of Central Bank of Egypt, at the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt August 6, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation slid to 25.7% in July from 27.5% in June, a rate of decline faster than analysts had forecast, the country's statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Thursday.
Month-on-month, prices fell by 0.4% in July, down from 1.6% in June. Food prices declined by 0.3% in July, though they were still 28.5% higher than a year ago.
A poll of 18 analysts had expected inflation to have slowed to a median of 26.6% in July, extending a deceleration that began in September, when inflation reached a peak of 38.0%, Reuters reported.
Egypt has tightened its monetary policy under an $8 billion International Monetary Fund financial support package it signed in March, although that program has also required it to increase many domestic prices and let its currency plunge.
The central bank hiked interest rates by 600 basis points (bps) on March 6, bringing total increases in 2024 to 800 bps.
The government raised the price of some subsidized products to battle a budget deficit that hit 505 billion Egyptian pounds ($10.27 billion) in a 3.016 trillion pound budget in the year that ended on June 30.
On June 1, the government raised the price of subsidized bread by 300% and on July 25 the price of fuel by up to 15%.

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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and British oil giant BP are set to finalize a deal by early February to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk and curb gas flaring, Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday.

The mega-project in northern Iraq will include plans to recover flared gas to boost the country's electricity production, they said.

Gas flaring refers to the polluting practice of burning off excess gas during oil drilling. It is cheaper than capturing the associated gas.

The Iraqi government and BP signed a new memorandum of understanding in London late Tuesday, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and other senior ministers visit Britain to seal various trade and investment deals.

"The objective is to enhance production and achieve optimal targeted rates of oil and gas output," Sudani's office said in a statement.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told AFP after the new accord was signed that the project would increase the four oil fields' production to up to 500,000 barrels per day from about 350,000 bpd.

"The agreement commits both parties to sign a contract in the first week of February," he said.

Ghani noted the project will also target gas flaring.

Iraq has the third highest global rate of gas flaring, after Russia and Iran, having flared about 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, according to the World Bank.

The Iraqi government has made eliminating the practice one of its priorities, with plans to curb 80 percent of flared gas by 2026 and to eliminate releases by 2028.

"It's not just a question of investing and increasing oil production... but also gas exploitation. We can no longer tolerate gas flaring, whatever the quantity," Ghani added.

"We need this gas, which Iraq currently imports from neighboring Iran. The government is making serious efforts to put an end to these imports."

Iraq is ultra-dependent on Iranian gas, which covers almost a third of Iraq's energy needs.

However, Teheran regularly cuts off its supply, exacerbating the power shortages that punctuate the daily lives of 45 million Iraqis.

BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.

According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.