Koshari has always been one of the cheapest and most popular foods in Egypt. It is a mixture of pasta, rice, lentils, chickpeas, fried onions and spicy tomato sauce. It is so rich in carbohydrates and protein that it can satisfy anyone's hunger for the day, and everyone in Egypt eats it.
In their report, published by the American Washington Post, writers Siobhan O'Grady and Heba Farouk Mahfouz said that in light of the rapid rise in food prices in conjunction with the growing economic crisis, even the most low-cost meals have become expensive;
It even affects the margins - which is the difference between the cost and the selling price of the product - what Koshary leader Youssef Zaki sells (owner of the "Abu Tarek" Koshary chain), as well as the pockets of ordinary Egyptians.
The two writers explained that at a time when Egypt was hoping to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic, which saw the huge tourism sector essentially halted, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war caused a series of unexpected repercussions throughout the region, hitting Egypt hard;
Foreign investors pulled billions of dollars out of the country within weeks of the invasion, destabilizing the economy.
The authors reported that Egypt imports more wheat than any other country, most of which comes from Russia and Ukraine, and for this reason the cost of wheat and oil began to rise, while the number of tourists decreased again due to the long-standing reliance on Russian and Ukrainian visitors.
Egypt is currently facing one of the worst periods of inflation in years, and ordinary Egyptians are paying the price to a large extent, as food and drink prices have increased by 30.9% compared to this time last year.
Earlier this year, the official exchange rate for the dollar was 15.6 pounds, but now it is 24.7 pounds, and on the black market one dollar can be sold for up to 33 pounds.
Banks are limiting dollar withdrawals in an effort to conserve cash in the country, and many Egyptians have given up the guise of spending, hoping costs will soon come down.
According to the two authors, fortunately for Zaki, koshari is still a staple in the Egyptian diet, but to avoid raising prices that Zaki knows his customers cannot afford;
The "Abu Tareq" chain resorted to reducing the size of the dishes slightly.
However, the customer base has dwindled somewhat, and with dozens of employees among the kitchen, waitstaff and delivery teams, Zaki now has the same number of workers to pay as he did before, but with less income to do so.
The authors quoted Zaki as saying, “Customers who used to buy large sizes of Koshari dishes may now buy smaller dishes.” He added, “Instead of eating 3 meals, people may eat only one or two meals.”
The two writers mentioned - quoting the Egyptian economist and political expert Wael Gamal - that blaming the crisis on the war in Ukraine only would be "hardly correct", noting that years of borrowing and investing in mega projects made Egypt particularly vulnerable.
The two writers indicated that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has defended these projects, especially since he made the development of infrastructure a hallmark of his presidency.
And this December, after months of negotiations, Egypt announced that it would receive a loan of $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund, including $347 million that will be disbursed immediately, as this is the fourth time that the International Monetary Fund has provided assistance to Egypt. during the past six years.
According to the two authors, Gamal said that Egypt's economic problems become "deeper every time they go to the International Monetary Fund to take more loans, and cover old loans with new ones."
The two writers said that Ahmed Ramadan (27 years), who works in the Koshary shop branch located in the Zamalek neighborhood - an island on the Nile and its residents are from the upper class - reported that most of his customers are students and employees from the working class who move there every day, indicating that he He is considered lucky compared to other low-income people in his Imbaba neighborhood;
He has a steady job and can walk to the Koshary restaurant in Zamalek every day without worrying about the high transportation costs;
He pointed out that for his neighbors, "the situation has worsened," adding that "they have to cover their expenses and eat only vegetables and rice."
The authors pointed out that the costs of supply have risen, to the extent that a few weeks ago, the Ramadan restaurant stopped serving the cheapest part of Koshary;
While Ramadan says that until recently, his restaurant could buy a ton of rice for about 8,000 Egyptian pounds ($323, according to the official exchange rate), but now a ton costs 18,000 pounds ($727), and the cost of buying pasta jumped by 6,000 pounds ($242). dollars), and even the plastic containers and bags used to pack meals are more expensive than before.
And the two writers added that in the neighboring neighborhood of Agouza, Medhat Muhammad, 47, stands behind the counter of a roadside restaurant selling falafel sandwiches (Egyptian falafel) and ful (stewed beans), both of which are plant-based foodstuffs in the Egyptian diet, but customers have begun to dispense with them. According to Muhammad and his colleagues;
A year ago, the sandwich sold for 3.5 Egyptian pounds (14 US cents), now it costs 4.5 Egyptian pounds (18 US cents). "The war in Ukraine caused the price of flour and oil to go up. And when they went up, everything else went up," Mohammed says.
Nowadays, some poorer customers buy falafel sticks instead of a whole sandwich, and put them on the bread they get from the subsidy programme, just to save some money.
And Sayed Al-Amir (restaurant manager) says - according to the two writers - that even if the restaurant doubles its prices, "we will not achieve much profit," indicating that many other stores are closing their doors, but he will do everything in his power to avoid layoffs, indicating that "every one of These workers have 3 to 4 children,” he said, referring to Muhammad and the other men, including a worker who throws falafel into a bowl of oil, noting that all the restaurant employees also have other jobs, as they work in delivering orders to other restaurants.