Egypt’s inflation reaches record high of 38.2% in July, government data shows

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s national statistics bureau says inflation has reached a record high in July. It said Thursday that consumer prices rose 38.2% from a year earlier, up from 36.8% in June. The agency also says average food and beverage prices, the main drivers of inflation, rose 68.2% over the past 12 months. Prices have soared in Egypt since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer, with most of its imports traditionally coming from eastern Europe. While Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries have diversified their sources of wheat, the end of a wartime deal that allows Ukraine to ship its grain to the world has helped push up prices of food commodities.