Egypt’s economic turmoil squeezes struggling middle class

Egypt’s economic turmoil squeezes struggling middle class

Official annual headline inflation hit 21.9 per cent in December, and food prices surged 37.9 per cent in the Arab world’s most populous nation

A man walks past vehicles under an overpass bridge in the Azhar district of Egypt's capital Cairo on January 16, 2023. — AFP

By AFP Published: Tue 17 Jan 2023, 5:21 PM

With Egypt’s economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink.

“It’s like we were hit by an earthquake, suddenly you have to let go of everything,” said Manar, a 38-year-old mother of two.

“Now whatever semi-humane life people had has been reduced to thinking about how much bread and eggs cost,” she told AFP, asking to be identified only by her first name.

The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan agreement.

Official annual headline inflation hit 21.9 per cent in December, and food prices surged 37.9 per cent in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

But Steve Hanke, an economist at Johns Hopkins University who measures inflation based on purchasing power parity and factoring