CAIRO: Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation rate slowed to 5.4% in December from 5.7% in November, official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Sunday.

Headline inflation fell by 0.4 percentage point month-on-month in December after having risen by 0.8 point in November.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile items such as food, eased to 3.803% in December year-on-year, from 4.021% in November, the central bank said. December's lower inflation rate was driven by a seasonal reduction in food prices and lower demand for clothing, said Naeem Brokerage Inflation in Egypt peaked at 33% in mid-2017 after the government undertook austerity measures linked to a three-year loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).