Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation rate slowed to a lower-than-expected 33.3% in March from 35.7% in February, data from the country's statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday.

Month-on-month, prices rose by 1.0% in March, down from 11.4% in February.

A poll of 12 analysts had expected annual inflation to climb to a median 36.3% as prices adjusted to a currency devaluation as well as an interest rate hike in early March and an increase in fuel prices two weeks later.

The central bank on March 6 allowed the Egyptian pound to fall to about 50 to the dollar from 30.85, where it had been fixed for the past 12 months. It has since strengthened to 47.60 per dollar.

The government raised prices on a wide range of fuel products on March 22 as it pressed ahead with a commitment made to the International Monetary Fund more than a year earlier to allow most domestic prices to rise to international levels.

Inflation has been elevated for the past year, driven largely by rapid growth in the money supply. Annual inflation reached a historic high of 38.0% in September.

Food prices edged up by a monthly 0.7% in March after having jumped by 15.9% in February. On an annual basis, food prices rose by 45% in the year to March.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam; Writing by Patrick Werr; Editing by Ed Osmond and Jamie Freed)