Egypt’s annual headline inflation rate plummeted to 4.8% in September, compared to 7.5% a month ago, and remained almost stationary on a month-on-month basis, easing to its lowest hit since November 2012 and charting the path for additional key rate cuts, Invest-Gate reports.

September figures denote the annual headline inflation’s fourth consecutive decline, whereas annual core inflation nearly halved to 2.6% in September from 4.9% in the previous month, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed in an official statement on October 12.

Radwa El-Swaify, head of research at Cairo-based Pharos Securities Brokerage, told Bloomberg that the slowdown was driven primarily by the unexpected plunge in food and beverage prices, foreseeing inflation to further slip in October but hiking in November due to a base effect from last year’s figures.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Abu Basha, head of research at Cairo-based investment bank EFG Hermes, told the news agency that after reducing official borrowing costs by 250 basis points in the past two months, the CBE is likely to deliver 100 basis points of easing at its forthcoming meeting in November.

“The real interest rate will be inflated in the next three months due to the base effect … However, investors should pay attention to the December inflation figure to assess the sustainable real rate,” Abu Basha was quoted as saying, emphasizing, “Inflation may pick up after a few months and end the year between 8% and 9%, separately.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reforms had helped the government get its budget deficit under control, precluding the need to expand the money supply. This, in turn, has dwindled some of the inflationary pressures, namely interest rates, which now hit almost 8.5% as of late September.