“I am afraid that I cannot treat my daughter if she gets sick,” said Saeed, a textile worker in 6^th of October City. He earns 1,500 Egyptian pounds per month (USD 100) and is married with two daughters.

“Since the beginning of this year, I have begun to rely on the products sold by the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Agriculture because they are cheaper. But my biggest problem is medical treatment. When my daughter gets sick, I ask the doctor to prescribe cheap medicine because I cannot afford high-priced drugs beside food.”

“I am afraid that I cannot treat my daughter if she gets sick,” said Saeed, a textile worker in 6^th of October City. He earns 1,500 Egyptian pounds per month (USD 100) and is married with two daughters.

“Since the beginning of this year, I have begun to rely on the products sold by the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Agriculture because they are cheaper. But my biggest problem is medical treatment. When my daughter gets sick, I ask the doctor to prescribe cheap medicine because I cannot afford high-priced drugs beside food.”

“I do not know what to do after the rise in the dollar and the removal of gasoline subsidies. We will likely stop eating meat and eat chicken once a month,” said Saeed.

The price of the IMF loan

Egypt needs to fulfill the International Monetary Fund requirements to liberalize the exchange rate and remove subsidies to obtain the approval of the IMF Executive Board on a loan of USD 12 billion, (eventually approved on 11 November). On 3 November, the Central Bank of Egypt liberalized the exchange rate, with a pilot rate of 13 pounds per US dollar, depreciating the Egyptian pound by almost 48 percent.

On the same day, the government removed fuel subsidies and the prices of gas, gasoline and diesel rose by almost 40 percent.

A number of politicians refer to 3 November as ‘Black Thursday’. One day after the implementation of the decisions, a state of anger could be noticed in the markets, streets and public transport means. The measures, described by the government and President as painful, will lead to an unprecedented rise of the food prices as Egypt imports 65 percent of food consumption, according to the National Center for Agricultural Research.

Press conferences of the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Central Bank failed to alleviate, and even increased the anger.

Ilhami al-Mirghani, an economist, said the crisis will change the consumption habits of Egyptian households, especially the employees. The cost of transportation to work and schools will increase and cannot be reduced or dispensed. Unfortunately, this will affect household spending on food, which he considered a disaster because a large proportion of the Egyptians are anemic and stunted due to malnutrition. With food reduced expenditure and non-diversity, the rate of malnutrition will increase, affecting spending on health and destroying the labor force in the country.

Slipping below the poverty level

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics confirmed that given the official price of 8.80 pounds, more than 27 percent of the Egyptian people live under the poverty line, estimated at USD 1.80 per capita a day. Now, after the devaluation of the pound, the exchange rate ranges between 15 and 16 pounds per dollar, and thus a larger proportion will live below the poverty line.

“I decided not to eat outside, even though I stay 14 hours a day out of the house,” Jamal Salem decided. He works as an accountant in a private company and earns 3000 pounds (USD 200) and has three children.

“Given my job, I know that the liberalization of exchange rate and the removal of fuel subsidies will raise prices by at least 50 percent. Therefore, I wrote down, and decided to reduce all my monthly needs to the maximum extent. Firstly, I will give up the afternoon meal I eat at work, costing me 10 pounds a day, as well as attending the café, my only breather.”

 In addition, my wife and I decided to provide the daily proteins needed by the children, such as milk and eggs, and to eat chicken once a week and no meat, even cheap meat provided by the Armed Forces ports because it is more expensive than chicken. We will also prevent making simple desserts at home,” said Jamal.

No luxuries

“I had to cut my family budget and discussed what could be dispensed so as I do not borrow and keep on the same standard of living,” said Ahmed Sameh, a bank employee who earns 9000 pounds (USD 600) and is married and has two daughters.

“We decided that my wife would drive our daughters to the school to save the “bus” cost, amounting six thousand pounds a year. I used to travel outside Egypt every three years, but because of restrictions on the withdrawal of dollars outside Egypt, I gave up the idea of traveling. I also refrained from eating outside the home,” he continued.

“The government’s new decisions cut my income by about 50 percent and I have no time for another job. Therefore, I will have to reduce my expenses and give up all the “luxuries”, mostly traveling in Egypt. I used to travel to Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Alexandria three times a year, especially during the holidays, to compensate my wife and daughters for my absence and permanent preoccupation. Now, I will have to travel only once in the summer. I also banned the purchase of fast foods and all drinks that can be dispensed of, such as ice cream, soft drinks, cappuccino and Nescafe. Next week, I will stop driving my car except in necessary situations and take the bank bus because of high gasoline prices.”