Inflation rates hit mid-twenties, enter uncharted territory: Egypt’s headline inflation rate closed 2016 by recording 23.3% in December, up from 19.4% in November, according to the monthly release by CAPMAS. The headline rate was driven in part by a 28.3% rise in food prices in December, Reuters notes, as well as a 32.9% rise in healthcare costs in the same month. Transportation prices in cities and towns were up 23.2% y-o-y in December following the rise in fuel prices the month before. December’s core inflation reading remains higher than the headline rate, registering 25.9%, according to the central bank.

On a monthly basis, December’s headline and core inflation rates are the highest on record since 2003, surpassing the 23.6% headline rate and 23.0% core rate recorded in August, 2008. Looking at annual IMF WEO data that go back to 1980, the headline figure is only surpassed by the average recorded in 1987 (or 1986 if you look at World Bank data, which goes back to 1960).

…Expect inflation to remain “high” until dropping to single-digit levels by the end of 2019 or early 2020, notes Reham ElDesoki, senior economist at Arqaam Capital, as per Bloomberg. She says, “Egypt now is in the eye of the policy restructuring cycle, and the price is higher inflation and an overall fiscal deficit pending a structural change in government spending and general repricing of goods and services … reversal of over 50 years of comprehensive government support will take time and is a welcome change to put Egypt on a more sustainable path to growth and fiscal consolidation.”