Urban inflation in Egypt jumped to a fresh three-year peak in April as food prices surged, adding to pressure on the country's central bank to raise interest rates for a third consecutive time.

The rise in inflation also adds to the political pressure on the Egyptian government, which has faced a wave of strikes and protests over price increases.

Poor Egyptians, who spend a disproportionate amount on food, have been hard hit by higher prices for rice, meat, vegetables, cooking oil and other foodstuffs.

The government, one of the world's biggest wheat importers, has had trouble maintaining adequate supplies of cheap subsidised bread, the stable of the poor.

Urban inflation in Egypt rose to 16.4 percent in the year to April, from 14.4 percent in the year to March, the state statistics agency Capmas said. It was the highest since December 2004, when inflation hit 17.3 percent.

The rise was mainly driven by food prices, which rose 22 percent in the year, CAPMAS head Abu Bakr el-Guindi said.

Prices for bread and grains jumped 31.9 percent, meat by 17.5 percent and fish by 15 percent, he told a news conference

President Hosni Mubarak responded last month by promising a 30 per cent increase in public-sector salaries, but to raise the extra revenue the government decided this week to increase fuel and cigarette prices.

Guindi said the latest price rises would show in the inflation figure for May, which will come out in June. He said the government's decision to raise prices 'will have more effect on the poor and lower middle class'.

Simon Kitchen, senior economist at Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes, said: 'Most of this is being driven by food prices and in the next couple of months you will see the effect of the fuel price rises taking effect. We are expecting inflation of around 20 percent by the middle of the year.'

In the month to April, prices rose 2 percent, Capmas said. Prices of food and beverages rose 1.6 percent despite a decline in key prices such as rice, which fell 8.4 percent, and wheat flour, which fell 6.5 percent, he added.-Reuters