Cairo: Until few weeks ago, Ebrahim Abdul Hafeez, a government employee, used to pay four Egyptian pounds (Dh1.6) for his daily breakfast of the foul or fava bean stew, a staple dish in Egypt.
The bill has just increased by 25 per cent, placing pressure on Abdul Hafeez’s limited income.
“Some days ago, I was surprised when the vendor told me that the cost of my daily foul sandwiches has gone up because of the decline in the value of the [Egyptian] pound against the dollar,” Abdul Hafeez, a father of four, said.
“This is the second rise in prices of foul sandwiches in two years. What has foul to do with the dollar? Besides, I don’t get my salary in the dollar. What else can the poor people eat?”
In March, the Central Bank of Egypt devalued the local currency by around 14 per cent, promising a more flexible currency regime for the foreign cash-hungry country. However, the depreciation has failed to shore up the local pound, which has in recent weeks hit new lows at the thriving black market.
President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has recently ordered the government to increase the value of state-subsidised commodities available to ration card holders in a step aimed at easing inflationary pressure resulting from the decrease in the pound’s value.
Egypt’s foreign currency earnings have dwindled due to unrest that has hit the country in recent years, taking a toll on its vital tourism industry.
With Egypt being a big importer of food, merchants have hiked up prices of their goods amid an outcry from limited-income consumers.
“This increase was unavoidable,” said Ayman, who sells the stewed foul dish at a pushcart in Cairo. “I feel sorry for the poor people, who heavily depend on foul in their meals. But I can’t alone bear the recent rises in prices of the beans, cooking oil, eggs and spices,” he said, referring to main ingredients of the popular recipe.
According to him, the price of beans have increased from 9.5 to 13 Egyptian pounds (Dh3.93 to Dh5.38) per kilo in the past two months. “A packet of cooking oil, which I used to buy for 150 pounds, now costs 180 pounds. Who will bear these increases?” Ayman protested.
Earlier this year, Al Sissi launched an ambitious project to cultivate 1.5 million feddans (acres) with the aim of reducing food imports for this country’s population of around 90 million.
Egypt imports more than 90 per cent of beans to cover the local consumption, according to Chahin Mahmoud, a trade unionist.
Major suppliers are France, Britain and Australia.
“Therefore, prices of stewed beans at the local market are linked to the dollar exchange rates,” Mahmoud told Gulf News.
“Beans are an important dish for many Egyptians because it is a cheap source of proteins for the classes, who cannot afford the high prices of animal proteins.”
