Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Mexican gasoline prices are forecast to rise by as much as 20% in January compared to the highest recorded prices in December as part of the country’s move to end several decades of government-set prices at the pump.

Price controls for gasoline will be scrapped early next year and will be replaced with market prices. The liberalization will begin March in parts of the country that border the U.S., said the energy regulatory commission, with other regions gradually following suit throughout the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The finance ministry said liters of the widely used Magna gasoline brand will rise 14.2% and Premium fuel will go up 20.1%, according to Reuters.

Prices will start to adjust on a daily basis a month after the price increase is implemented, reported Bloomberg. January’s increase in unleaded gas will be the biggest since November 1998.

The higher gasoline prices may stir inflation, which has already passed the central bank's 3% mark due to sharp peso depreciation, according to Reuters.

The liberalization of gasoline prices was part of an energy overhaul that the country implemented in 2013, which ended Pemex’s 75-year monopoly on nearly all facets of the sector, according to Reuters.

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