Egypt's annual core inflation jumped to 25.86 percent in December from 20.73 percent in November, the central bank said on Tuesday. The core consumer price index that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) uses to measure the level of prices – after excluding the volatile cost commodities such fruits and vegetables – started to hit the double-digits in May 2016, when it recorded a seven-year-high rate of 12.2 percent. Egypt's annual headline inflation jumped to 24.3 percent in December compared to 20.2 percent in the previous month, weeks after the country freely floated its currency in November, state statistics body CAPMAS announced on Tuesday. The CBE decided in early November to float the pound against the dollar and raise key interest rates.
