Egypt inflation rate eases to 11% in May

Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation fell to 11.4 per cent in May, down from 13.1 per cent in April, the official statistics agency Capmas said on Sunday, a bigger fall than the International Monetary Fund had predicted.

One analyst welcomed the figures as "good news for the markets" and said it could give rise to some speculation of a rate cut by the central bank at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting, due on June 28.

"Assuming that the numbers are accurate, this is certainly an unexpectedly good development in terms of incoming macroeconomic data," said Allen Sandeep, head of research at Naeem Brokerage.

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Egypt's non-oil private sector economy stabilises in April as inflation eases

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"Also, it comes as a contrasting development versus other emerging economies which are witnessing a steady rise in inflation," he added.

The IMF said in a report in January it expected inflation to fall to 12 per cent by June and to single digits by 2019. It warned against a premature rate cut and urged the Central Bank of Egypt to remain vigilant.

Inflation surged in 2017 on the back of economic reforms tied to a $12 billion IMF loan programme Egypt signed in late 2016 that includes deep cuts to energy subsidies and tax hikes.

Prices soared in particular after the import-dependent country floated its pound currency in November 2016, reaching a record high of 33 per cent in July 2017, although inflation rates have since gradually eased.

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Persuasion

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The Vile

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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions

There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.

1 Going Dark

A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.

2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers

A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.

3. Fake Destinations

Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.

4. Rebranded Barrels

Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.

* Bloomberg

Prop idols

Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.

Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)

An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.

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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)

Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.

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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)

Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.