By: Heba El-Kordy

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s annual inflation rate fell to its lowest level in October, according to a survey conducted by Mubasher.

The North African nation’s annual inflation rate slowed down to 3.1% last month, compared to 4.8% in September, data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Saturday showed.

The larger-than-expected drop in inflation rate was ascribed to the impact of the base year as well as the fall in the prices of food and beverages, Yara El-Kahky, an economist at Naeem Holdings, said.  

However, the inflation rate is expected to rise slightly in the last two months of 2019, but still within the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) target range of 6-12%, El-Kahky noted.

For her part, Radwa El-Swaify, head of research sector at Pharos Holding for Financial Investments, remarked that October’s inflation rate beat expectations of 3.5%.

October’s figures will likely push the CBE to reduce key interest rates by about 100 basis points (bps) in its meeting to be held on 14 November, El-Swaify added.