Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s annual inflation rate rose to 31.8% year-on-year in October 2017, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in a statement on Thursday.

The prices of food and beverages went up 40.1%, boosting the annual inflation rate by 21.08 points.

The prices of meat and poultry, vegetables, and dairy products and eggs levelled up 38.7%, 41.9%, and 52.1%, respectively.

The CAPMAS had previously posted that Egypt's annual inflation rate fell in September, recording 32.9% year-on-year.

The consumer price index (CPI) edged up by 0.9% month-on-month in October 2017, versus 1% in September.

The CAPMAS attributed this rise to the increase in prices of the education sector, the communication services segment, and the seafood segment by 19.8%, 7.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.

The Egyptian minister of finance Amr El-Garhy forecasted inflation rate to drop in November and December.