Annual CPI inflation surged to 28.1% Y-o-Y in January, from 23.3% Y-o-Y in December. Food and beverages prices accelerated to 37.2% Y-o-Y from 28.3% in December, while transportation jumped to 25.1% Y-o-Y from 23.2% Y-o-Y. On a monthly basis, inflation jumped to 4.1% from 3.1% in December. Food and beverages prices accelerated to 6.8% M-o-M from 5.3% M-o-M in the previous month, and transportation costs edged up to 1.5% M-o-M from 1.1% M-o-M. While the outturn comes higher than our expectation, we still believe CBE will likely keep policy rates on hold when it meets next Thursday, with the inflation surge still being driven by the one-off impact of the structural reforms undertaken late last year. (Bloomberg, Mohamed Abou Basha).