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Egypt's Inflation Tops 12 Percent

   VOA News  May 10, 2011
   Egyptian street vendors display fruits for sale in the Bola'a
   neighborhood in Cairo, April 5, 2011

Photo: AP

   Egyptian street vendors display fruits for sale in the Bola'a
   neighborhood in Cairo, April 5, 2011

   Soaring food prices, one of the triggers that toppled former Egyptian
   President Hosni Mubarak, helped push the country's annual inflation
   rate past 12 percent in April.
   Egypt's statistical agency reported Tuesday that food and beverage
   costs, which account for nearly half of the country's consumer
   spending, increased by 21 percent last month compared to a year ago.
   That helped boost consumer prices to their highest point in a year.
   Surging food prices were among a list of grievances Egyptians
   complained about in the past couple of years, leading to the widespread
   anti-government protests in January. Mubarak resigned in early February
   and is now being investigated on charges of illegally amassing wealth
   during his 30-year rule.
   Egypt's economy has been buffeted by political uncertainty. Tourism has
   sharply dropped and the country's international reserves have
   diminished.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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