Analysts had expected a median decrease to 32.8%.

Month-on-month, prices rose by 1.1% in April, up from 1.0% in March.

Food prices declined by 0.9% but were 40.5% higher than a year ago.

The central bank tightened monetary policy by hiking interest rates by 600 basis points in March, the same day it signed a $8 billion financial support package with the IMF and let the currency plummet.

Egypt promised to resume tightening if necessary to prevent further erosion of purchasing power.

The text reports that the government raised fuel prices last month as part of an IMF commitment, while inflation, driven by money supply growth, has remained high.

Egypt's non-oil private sector continued to contract in April, with the S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index at 47.4, below the 50.0 growth threshold for the 41st consecutive month.

The employment index decreased, but the output and new orders indices improved slightly.

Business sentiment also showed some improvement.

Fitch, a global ratings agency, recently upgraded Egypt's outlook from stable to positive.

The country's rating remains at 'B-'.

This decision was made due to decreased external financing risks and increased foreign direct investment.

Egypt has received billions of dollars from foreign investors in treasury bills since announcing an IMF loan program.

The country's net foreign assets deficit shrank by $17.8 billion in March, following investment in the foreign portfolio and support from the UAE.

Fitch also noted that initial steps to control off-budget spending would help reduce public debt sustainability risks.