Egypt's annual inflation hits 15.5 percent in August

CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's state statistics bureau says the annual inflation rate in urban areas has reached 15.5 percent in August, a surge of nearly two percentage points over the previous month.

Data released Thursday by the bureau says food and beverages prices, the single largest component in the basket of goods and services used to gauge inflation, rose to 19.3 percent in August compared to last year and by 1.6 percent over July.

The rise is mostly attributed to the Egyptian pound's depreciation and last month's hike in charges for domestic electricity use.

Egypt's double-digit inflation follows last month's provisional agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $12 billion loan over three years to overhaul its ailing economy. Egypt is expected to introduce far-reaching economic reforms to secure the loan.