Egypt’s inflation rate increased by 35.7 percent in June compared to the previous year. This is the largest increase the country has ever seen. The Egyptian pound has now lost half its value in a year and a half.
The rate of inflation in June means that prices are roughly 36% higher than in the same month last year. If fuel prices and food price fluctuations are excluded, inflation rose by 41 percent.
Inflation figures were also high a month ago, but the Arab country did not witness such price increases compared to the previous year.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi blames the price hike on external factors such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 2022, the country has lost $20 billion and banks are short of foreign exchange.
Critics also point to Sisi’s political choices. For example, the president has undertaken large and expensive construction projects, such as building a new capital in the desert. The cost of this is estimated at 59 billion euros.
Egypt has several billions in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is increasingly demanding the loans. For example, the fund wants to no longer invest public money in such large numbers in national projects.