Economy

Egypt’s August headline inflation jumps to a record 37.4%

Published

8 months ago

September 11, 2023

Egypt's August headline inflation jumps to a record 37.4%

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Vendors wait for customers near traditional souvenir products of incense and medical displayed for sale, at a popular tourist area of the al-Hussein and Al-Azhar districts, in the capital city of Cairo, Egypt, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdall

(Reuters) – Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate surged to a higher-than-expected record 37.4% in August from 36.5% in July, data from the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Sunday.

Headline inflation in July was 36.5% and in June 35.7%, both also all-time highs.

High money supply growth over the last two years has led prices to climb rapidly and triggered three devaluations since March 2022. Many Egyptians have seen their living standards slide.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile items like food and fuel, eased slightly to 40.4% from 40.7% in July and 41% in June, the central bank said.

Month-on-month, prices rose 1.6% in August, down from 1.9% in July and 2.08% in June, CAPMAS said.

Analysts said the gradual month-on-month decline could be a positive sign.

“It is tentatively a sign that prices are consolidating at these levels,” said Allen Sandeep at Naeem Brokerage.

These included a 21.6% month-on-month increase in vegetable prices and a 5.8% increase in tobacco product prices, while meat fell 2.5% and bread and cereals 1.1%, according to analysts.

The median forecast of 14 analysts polled last week had shown annual urban consumer inflation rising to 37.1% in August. The previous high of 32.95% was recorded in July 2017.

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 26, 2023

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

Economy

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.

With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.

The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.

“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.

($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

4 months ago

December 25, 2023

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.