Increasing numbers of Egyptians are desperately hunting for second jobs, cutting back on eating meat and scrambling to find new ways to cope with soaring prices, amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis. The Egyptian pound has halved against the dollar over the past year, as the financial authorities in Cairo attempt to negotiate a heavily managed devaluation of the currency. People are also struggling to deal with inflation rates of almost 33% and even higher rates of inflation for basic goods. The cost-of-living crisis in Egypt, which is likely to see an influx of Sudanese refugees in the coming days, has followed years of state-led austerity measures, collapsing a formerly large middle class in the most populous Arab state. Egypt’s poverty rate hovers close to 30%, according to the most recent government statistics, although the true figure is expected to be higher.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
