FILE -- In this Nov. 25, 2016 file photo, a vegetable vendor sells produce at a market in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt is seeing a dramatic jump in the country’s annual urban consumer price inflation. In a Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, statement, the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said that inflation has reached a record high of 24.3 percent, the highest in six years. The agency said food and beverage prices increased around 5.2 percent in December, and that medical care jumped to nearly 5.6 percent, compared to November. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File) (The Associated Press)
CAIRO – Egypt is seeing a dramatic jump in the country's annual urban consumer price inflation, a stark reflection of the heavy toll inflicted by the government's tough economic measures.
The state-run statistics agency says inflation reached a record high of 24.3 percent, the highest since 2008.
Tuesday's statement by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics says food and beverage prices increased in one month by about 5.2 percent, and that costs of health care jumped by nearly 5.6 percent from November.
Egypt floated the pound in November to secure a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The pound lost about half its value, plunging to around 18 to the dollar, a huge setback in a country heavily dependent on imports ranging from food items to raw materials.
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