Egypt's government has raised the price of its most widely consumed subsidized bread for the first time in decades, making it harder than ever for millions of Egyptians, like Mohamed Abdelaziz, to get by. - REUTERS
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00:00 It's a staple foodstuff in Egyptian homes, which means it hurts when bread gets more
00:06 expensive. And that's just what happened in a very dramatic way for many households.
00:13 On June 1st, the Egyptian government quadrupled the price of subsidised bread provided to
00:18 the poor. Now the loaves are still available to some 70 million people, priced at less
00:24 than one US cent. Even so, shopper Mohamed Abdelaziz says the big increase is hurting.
00:35 Of course the price hike impacts me. The prices were already affecting me financially.
00:40 We are barely making it with the current situation. We just rely on God. I try to find a side
00:45 job to add to my salary. This is the only way to survive. Otherwise you can't make a
00:50 living. Of course the salary itself will not be enough. And even with the raise, it won't
00:54 cover the increasing prices. The price increase was the first for decades.
01:01 Egypt's government says it had to act amid soaring prices for imported wheat. Previous
01:07 administrations had feared making the hike, concerned it could spark unrest. Instead,
01:12 they tried moves like limiting eligibility for subsidised loaves. Now poor families face
01:18 a quadrupling in spending on the staple. Timothy Kaldas from the Tahrir Institute for Middle
01:23 East Policy says the government is making a mistake.
01:26 Look, social protection in Egypt is already very weak and the bread subsidies are really
01:32 an essential component of ensuring some degree of food security for the Egyptian population.
01:39 While the cost of bread subsidies is not negligible, it's also not enormous. And in terms of the
01:45 government's priorities, I think it's something that should stay until far into the future.
01:50 The government says it is expanding the social security safety net to help compensate. But
01:55 critics say the subsidy cuts come after years of heavy spending on infrastructure megaprojects,
02:01 which drove public debts even higher. Now the increase comes on top of rising utility
02:06 bills, leaving Egypt's poor families with even less money to pay for the next meal.
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