Egypt hoped to raise 3.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($580 million, Dh2.13 billion) from the sale of nine-month treasury bills late last night after inflation accelerated last month on rising food prices. The North African country paid an average yield of 15.886 per cent at last week\'s sale of similar maturity securities, near the highest level since Bloomberg started tracking the data in 2006. The rate has been little changed since the start of February after surging more than two percentage points since October. The annual inflation rate in urban parts of Egypt, the gauge the central bank monitors, increased to 9.2 per cent from 8.6 per cent in January, the official statistics agency said on Sunday. Food and beverage costs, the biggest component of the consumer-price index, increased an annualised 12.6 per cent compared with 11.2 per cent in the previous month. The country\'s 5.75 per cent dollar bonds due in 2020 advance for a second day on Friday, pushing the yield 14 basis points, or 0.14 of a percentage point, lower to 6.68 per cent, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. That\'s the lowest level in almost four months.