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Egypt Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens to 26.2% in August

An aerial view shows a motorway in Egypt's capital Cairo on September 9, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
An aerial view shows a motorway in Egypt's capital Cairo on September 9, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Egypt Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens to 26.2% in August

An aerial view shows a motorway in Egypt's capital Cairo on September 9, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
An aerial view shows a motorway in Egypt's capital Cairo on September 9, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation rate unexpectedly accelerated to 26.2% in August from 25.7% in July, data from statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Tuesday.
Month-on-month, prices jumped by 2.1%, speeding up from a 0.4% rise in July. Food prices climbed by 1.8% in August after having eased by 0.3% in July and were 29.0% higher than a year ago.
A poll of 19 analysts had expected August urban inflation to ease to a median of 25.1%.
Sara Saada of CI Capital was one of the few analysts who had predicted inflation would accelerate.
"We expected this, as the August reading reflects energy price hikes that were announced in the last week of July. This included diesel, that has a broad-based effect," she said, speaking to Reuters after the figure was announced.
Prices rose over the last month due to higher summer produce prices, fuel hikes of 10-15% near the end of July, a 25-33% jump in metro tickets at the beginning of August and a 21-31% increase in electricity tariffs, partly in August.
Inflation had been declining gradually from September's record high of 38.0%, turning the central bank's real overnight borrowing rate, at 27.25%, positive in July for the first time since January 2022.

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Bank of America Forecasts Three US Rate Cuts this Year

A customer uses an ATM at a Bank of America branch in Boston, Massachusetts, US, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A customer uses an ATM at a Bank of America branch in Boston, Massachusetts, US, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
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Bank of America Forecasts Three US Rate Cuts this Year

A customer uses an ATM at a Bank of America branch in Boston, Massachusetts, US, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A customer uses an ATM at a Bank of America branch in Boston, Massachusetts, US, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Bank of America, the most conservative among Wall Street's brokerages on the size of the Federal Reserve's expected interest rate cuts this year, has raised its forecast to match most of its peers after the recent nonfarm payrolls data.

BofA Global Research said on Sunday that it now expects the central bank to lower rates by 25 basis points (bps) in each of the three remaining policy meetings this year, compared with its previous forecast of two 25-bps cuts in September and December, according to Reuters.

The change was after data on Friday showed US employment rose less than expected in August, but a drop in the jobless rate to 4.2% suggested the labor market was not falling off the cliff to warrant a half-point rate cut this month.

BofA economists concurred, saying the hurdle for a 50-bps cut in September is high “because despite evidence of a cool labor market, layoffs remain low.”

Their latest forecast is the same as that of eight other brokerages, including Morgan Stanley and UBS Global Research, though it was not immediately clear if these brokerages would, or have already, altered their forecasts.

The jobs data had little effect on investors' bets on the size of a cut at the Fed's meeting next week. Interest rate futures signal a 70% chance of a 25 bps cut, nearly the same as last week.

Barclays and Goldman Sachs retained their call of three 25-bps cuts this year, saying the jobs data did not warrant a 50-bps cut.

Before the latest jobs data, UBS Global Wealth Management, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Wells Fargo Investment Institute had expected a 50 bps cut in September.