Egyptian women innovate to weather hard times

Recent float of pound and cut in fuel subsidy have reshaped lifestyles for many in Egypt

  

Cairo: Before going to bed or to work, Maha Ahmad, a schoolteacher, makes sure that all electrical appliances in the house are unplugged. The measure, aimed at cutting the power bill, is one of the steps this mother of two has recently adopted in order to keep her family spending under control.

“Everything has gone up, but salaries remain unchanged,” Maha said. “My monthly salary and that of my husband, who also works a teacher, has dropped our purchasing power by almost half after the recent flotation of the pound. We have no choice but to reconsider ways of spending in order to survive in these hard times,” she said.

Earlier this month, Egypt floated its local currency and cut state subsidy on fuel, triggering spikes in prices of most commodities, including food in this country of 92 million people.

The measures are part of tough economic reforms that secured Egypt a $12-billion loan over three years from the International Monetary Fund. The loan is badly needed to prop up Egypt’s economy that has been in decline due to the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.

“It is no longer easy to plan a budget ahead of the month because prices increase almost every day,” Maha said. “However, I do my best in order to keep things going by giving priority to spending on main things such as food and bills of electricity, gas and phone. My husband usually gives me his salary every month after deducting a certain sum of money for his expenses including transportation. We have to live monthly on our combined salaries of 3,500 pounds [Dh739].”

The hike in cost of living has deeply reshaped habits of Maha’s family. “We have stopped to go out for more than one time in the week in order to reduce our spending. Moreover, I now buy vegetables and fruit from the market that is cheaper than supermarkets. I also avoid the shopping offers in major malls that previously devoured lots of our budget. Generally speaking, now I buy just what I need not what I and my family desire.”

This austerity plan has affected Maha’s two children aged five and seven respectively.

“It is hard to get my two daughters to accept the new situation that includes spending less on imported chocolate and expensive clothes. I often try to pacify them by promising weekend outings.”

Egypt heavily relies on imports, a matter that has placed a pressure on its limited foreign currency revenues.

Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have dwindled from their peak $36 billion in 2010 to $19 billion in October this year.

Prior to the November 3, Egypt’s non-governmental Chamber of Commerce announced curtailing imports for three months in an attempt to support the government’s efforts to eliminate a long-thriving unofficial currency market.

In recent weeks, Egypt’s state and private television stations have bombarded viewers with calls to espouse “bold economic reforms” and avoid extravagance.

“The situation is affecting all classes and compelling them to reconsider their ways of living,” said Nadia, a lawyer and a mother of two.

“My business as a lawyer has suffered too with many clients unable to pay fees on time. I add what I earn to the salary of my husband who works at a consultancy firm in order to cover our monthly expenses,” added Nadia, who declined to give her full name for fear of what she called “social embarrassment”.

“With our monthly average income of 7,000 pounds [Dh1,478] we can hardly cope with increasing costs of living. The private language school of my two sons increased their fees by 20 per cent due to the pound flotation and fuel price increases. We begrudgingly accepted the hike in fees because we cannot register the boys in another school as we are almost mid-year. But I and my husband have agreed to find a less expensive school for them next year. “

Nadia devotes more of her time than before to revise lessons of her two children who are in the fifth and seventh grades respectively in order to save money spent on private tuition.

“I have also set up a group on the Facebook with mothers of other children in the same grades of my sons to exchange information about lessons.”

The Egyptian government has promised to boost social safety networks in order to cushion the impact of recent economic measures on the limited-income brackets.

Hanan Fat’hi, a widowed mother of four, is not waiting for these promises to be fulfilled. She has already reworked her family’s lifestyle.

“Instead of buying jams, I now make jams of orange and strawberry at home. They are cheaper and plentiful,” Hanan said. “I also preserve vegetables to be eaten as pickles at home,” she added, referring to a type of popular appetisers in Egypt. The 43-year-old home-maker gets a monthly income of around LE2,400 (Dh506) from her late husband’s pension and interest rates from a bank deposit.

“I have decreased quantities of food I cook daily so that nothing will be thrown away,” she said. I have also reduced my family’s meat consumption and replaced it with other sources of protein such as beans and lentils,” Hanan added. “I heard them saying on television that vegetable proteins are healthier than meat. They are also cheaper and fill the hungry stomachs.”