CAIRO - Egyptians entered the new year facing a series of price hikes as the government battles to keep up with rampant inflation.

Telecom companies raised the prices of their internet services, with state-controlled operator Telecom Egypt (TE) increasing the prices of its internet services by about 33%, effective Jan. 5, according to a TE company official who asked not to be named.

Private providers Orange and Vodafone also raised their internet fees, apparently after approval by the National Telecoms Regulatory Authority.

Headline inflation in Egypt was 34.6% in the year to November.

Electricity prices are also soon set to rise by around 15% on average, according to reports in local media. The electricity ministry has as of yet made no announcement.

On Monday, Egypt's transport ministry raised the price of tickets on the Cairo metro by up to 20%, officials in metro stations said, with a ticket for rides of nine stations or less rising to 6 Egyptian pounds ($0.19) from 5 pounds and tickets for some longer trips rising by even more.

(Reporting by Cairo bureau Writing by Patrick Werr Editing by Mark Potter)