'No solution' Inflationary crisis pushes middle class into poverty

Increasing numbers of Egyptians are desperately hunting for second jobs, cutting back on spending and scrambling to find new ways to cope with soaring prices, amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis

- Ruth Michaelson and Menna Farouk

Ahmed Fawzi is searching for a second job even though his current role as a graphic designer in Cairo leaves him with little spare time. He said: “It feels like the economic crisis is literally squeezing me. Prices are going up every day and there’s no solution to it.”

The Egyptian pound has halved against the dollar over the past year, as Cairo’s financial authorities 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 weeks, has followed years of state-led austerity measures, collapsing a formerly large middle class in the 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. Even as poverty has risen, the state has spent heavily on megaprojects such as a sparkling new administrative capital 50km east of Cairo.