In Egypt, bread is called “eish" in Arabic, meaning life.
The name reflects the significance that the staple holds in every meal of the nation's poor majority. Egypt is the world’s biggest consumer of bread and the largest importer of wheat.
It is little wonder, then, that the nation of 100 million felt a shudder go down its spine when President Abdel Fattah El Sisi talked about raising bread prices.
Maintaining low prices through costly subsidies has been a pillar of socio-economic policies adopted by successive governments over the past half century.
So much so that the inexpensive flat bread loaf called “eish balady” is widely thought to have played a significant role in seeing the nation through trying times.
“Keeping bread affordable to the poor has for 60 years been something of an informal social contract between citizens and the political authority,” sociologist and author Ammar Ali Hassan said.
“The symbolism associated with the loaf of bread goes well beyond it being just a consumer item. In reality, it defines the bond between people and the state.”
Mr El Sisi’s government spends 87.5 billion pounds ($5.57bn) subsidising food items for the 66.7 million Egyptians covered by state-issued ration cards.
Half of that money goes into bread subsidies, with each person entitled to five loaves at 0.05 pound apiece a day.
Meeting demand for bread has meant that Egypt is annually topping up its wheat production of 9 million tonnes with about 12 million tonnes it imports.
The nation consumes between 150 and 180 kilograms of bread per capita, well above the global average of 70 to 80 kilograms.
Egyptian officials have for years complained that bread subsidies burdened the national budget, denied successive governments scarce funds to overhaul the economy and encouraged waste and abuse.
An attempt to raise the price of bread in 1977 by president Anwar Sadat sparked days of deadly riots across much of Egypt, leading him to order the army to patrol the streets of Cairo and other major cities.
Successive governments have since used other methods to try to reduce the subsidies bill, such as reducing the size of the loaf, curtailing its production or suspending ration cards if their holders were found to be making enough money.
Mr El Sisi, in office since 2014, has been the architect and driving force behind an ambitious and far-reaching economic reform programme.
His government has zealously lifted subsidies on a wide range of goods and services, including fuel, electricity and drinking water.
It also introduced taxes including value-added and property tax, along with higher charges for items such as phone connections, passports and driving licences.
While the reforms won accolades from bilateral donors and international financial agencies, they added significantly to the hardships faced by most Egyptians.
This was despite government efforts to cushion the poorest from what amounted to the steepest rise of prices in living memory.
The reforms, as far-reaching as they were, did not touch bread, a reflection of the political sensitivity associated with the item.
Protests against the price rises led to some protests, but they were small and swiftly dealt with.
“Some might say, ‘Leave this to the prime minister or the minister of supplies',” Mr El Sisi said of his plans to raise the price of bread. “But no, this one is on me.”
Mr El Sisi refrained from specifying the extent of the increase under consideration. He only reassured Egyptians that the rise would not be steep.
His Cabinet, meanwhile, is reviewing the issue and will make recommendations to him on how to proceed, pro-government media reports say.
Commentators still voiced their concerns.
One such commentator, Ashraf El Barbary, said the assertion that raising bread prices would ease the financial difficulties contrasted with the huge state spending on mega projects.
Mr El Barbary also questioned the argument that money saved from reducing bread subsidies would be used to fund meals for school children.
“Will those school meals compensate for what the pupils eat for the rest of the day, after the number of bread loaves their families are able to buy shrink due to higher prices?” he asked in an unusually outspoken column published at the weekend in Cairo’s daily El Masry El Youm.
“The real problem in Egypt is not raising the price of subsidised bread or even lifting bread subsidies altogether, but it’s rather the government’s vision, which often only sees collecting tax and reducing the services it offers to citizens."
Mr El Barbary’s viewpoint is borne out by some of the widespread eating habits long embraced by the country’s poor majority.
These include stuffing bread with cheap pasta or fried potatoes, which is designed to fill stomachs. Some even eat two or three loaves with just two small pieces of falafel or some cheese.
But the policy of reducing subsidies also has its supporters.
“My words are in the public’s interest and I am prepared to endure all the abuse I will get because … there is a need for reviewing subsidies on all goods,” said Hussein Abu Saddam, the pro-government head of the farmers’ union.
“The time for temporary solutions is up. The Egyptian body needs to be remedied.”
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Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Zayed Sustainability Prize
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
Company%20profile
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Fight Night
FIGHT NIGHT
Four title fights:
Amir Khan v Billy Dib - WBC International title
Hughie Fury v Samuel Peter - Heavyweight co-main event
Dave Penalosa v Lerato Dlamini - WBC Silver title
Prince Patel v Michell Banquiz - IBO World title
Six undercard bouts:
Michael Hennessy Jr v Abdul Julaidan Fatah
Amandeep Singh v Shakhobidin Zoirov
Zuhayr Al Qahtani v Farhad Hazratzada
Lolito Sonsona v Isack Junior
Rodrigo Caraballo v Sajid Abid
Ali Kiydin v Hemi Ahio
Company%20profile
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
