CAIRO, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's inflation rate in September rose 2.6 percent month on month, the official statistics agency said Wednesday.

The annual inflation rate stood at 15.4 percent in September against 32.9 percent in the same month in 2017, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said in a statement.

The agency attributed the monthly inflation rise to price hikes of commodities and products such as vegetables, meat and poultry, grain and bread, seafood, tea, oil, and dairy products.

Vegetable prices rose by 17.2 percent and fruits by 7.4 percent, while prices of food and beverages rose 4.6 percent in September compared to August.

Inflation rates massively rose in Egypt, after the country devaluated its local currency in November 2016 to deal with the shortage of U.S. dollars and started a strict three-year economic reform program including austerity measures, fuel and energy subsidy cuts and tax hikes.