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The global economy is not good. The Arab country Egypt is in the same situation. The country is in the grip of the worst inflation in the last five years. The situation is such that even common food items are beyond the reach of many people.
Chicken is also among these food items whose prices are increasing day by day. In 2021, the price of one kilogram of chicken in the country was 30 Egyptian pounds, which is 117 taka in Bangladesh. And last Monday, one kilogram of chicken had to be bought for 70 Egyptian pounds or 251 taka.
Meanwhile, after asking to eat chicken legs, another problem has arisen. The price of a kilogram of chicken feet has increased to 20 Egyptian pounds, which is double the previous price.
As the price of chicken has more than doubled in just two years, many people are unable to buy it. As a result, there is nutritional deficiency. In such circumstances, last December, Egypt's National Institute for Nutrition published a list of alternative foods to meet nutritional deficiencies. That list includes chicken feet and even cattle hooves.
Many Egyptians have accepted such a call from the government. They felt that this means that Egypt is a very poor country. There is reason to think that chicken feet are the cheapest among meat dishes in Egypt. They consider it more waste than food.
Many mega projects have been undertaken in Egypt over the years. This includes building Africa's tallest tower and building a new capital in the desert.
One such Egyptian media personality is Mohammad Al-Hashimi. Addressing his 400,000 followers on social media, he said, 'We have entered the age of chicken feet. This shows the bad condition of the Egyptian pound and the fact that the country is drowning in debt day by day.'
Meanwhile, after asking to eat chicken legs, another problem has arisen. The price of a kilogram of chicken feet has increased to 20 Egyptian pounds, which is double the previous price. The Egyptian government says about 30 percent of the country's population lives below the poverty line. However, according to data provided by the World Bank in 2019, about 60 percent of Egypt's people are either poor or at risk.
How Egypt is in this crisis
Egypt has gone through several economic crises in the past few decades. By doing this, Cairo had to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Gulf allies for emergency stimulus assistance (bailout). All in all, the country is entangled in a web of debt. According to the IMF, 85.6 percent of Egypt's total economy is debt this year.
According to many experts, one of the reasons behind this situation is the role of the Egyptian military. As a result, the country's private sector has become fragile. Apart from that, many mega projects have been undertaken in the country in the past years. This includes building Africa's tallest tower and building a new capital in the middle of the desert. A huge amount of money has been allocated for this.
In addition, in the last two years, the Corona pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have further pushed Egypt back economically. The country's foreign exchange reserves have decreased, fuel prices have increased. According to the news agency Reuters, investors withdrew two thousand dollars from Egypt in 2020 due to Corona.
Many investors withdrew about the same amount last year because of the Ukraine war.
Timothy Kaldus, a researcher at Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, a non-governmental organization based in Washington, said that this two billion dollars is equal to the amount that Egypt has borrowed from the IMF since 2016. This money disappeared from Egypt in just one week last year.
Analysts say, these are the reasons for Egypt's economic woes today.
The Egyptian pound has nearly halved in value over the past year. And last week, 30 Egyptian pounds were available for one dollar. It is a record in the history of Egypt.
However, Egypt wants to stand up from this situation. Last December, the IMF agreed to bail out the country. They have already given 3 billion dollars. After this incentive aid, Egypt hopes that many allies, including the oil-rich Gulf countries, can provide another 1,400 billion dollars in loan assistance.
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