Manar, mother of two children, has given up on holidays abroad and is now wondering about the future, in a country which is embarking on painful reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The semblance of life that we had has disappeared, now we only think of the price of bread or eggs," the 38-year-old housewife told AFP, refusing to give her last name.

With the Egyptian pound halving since March, inflation soared to 21.9% in December and food prices rose 37.9% according to official figures, with most goods being imported.

But for Steve Hanke, professor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States and specialist in hyperinflation, inflation actually reaches 101% according to his calculations which take into account purchasing power and exchange rates - official and at black market.

"Never experienced that"

And, as in the brutal devaluation of 2016, again for an IMF loan, the middle class and the poorest are on the front line.

An employee counts banknotes at a Cairo exchange office on November 3, 2016. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/Archives

Already at the time, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi spoke of the "toughest program of economic reform in Egypt" and appealed to the mother and her sacrifices to hold the purse strings.

But for Salma, a 41-year-old translator who prefers to testify under a pseudonym, "military discipline" is not enough.

"My husband's salary has lost 40% of its value in six months," she told AFP.

And cutting corners on groceries only allows her to earn a margin in the face of the "monthly payments for the house, the car and the school fees" of her six-year-old son.

Ahmed Hicham, who helps many families with the Abwab El Kheir association, has seen a new audience arrive.

"Many had savings for their children or for later. Today, they dig into it for health costs or daily expenses," he told AFP.

An Egyptian weighs potatoes in a Cairo market on March 17, 2022 © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

Most, he says, are "private sector employees", more generous on salaries than the public service, "who earn between 4,000 and 6,000 pounds per month" (from 125 to 185 euros).

"They've never experienced that and it mortifies them to come to us," he says.

“There is even a man who told us that he had to choose between feeding his children or paying for their schooling”.

Before the recent devaluation, 60% of the 104 million Egyptians were below or just above the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

"No other way out"

Amid Egypt's notorious inequalities, the middle class is "difficult to define", concedes Soha Abdelaty of the American University in Cairo.

But one thing is certain: "with the sudden rise in inflation, those who were far from the poverty line could approach it", the average annual salary officially reaching 2,150 euros.

“These are the people who can no longer make ends meet but they are still not eligible for government aid,” continues the specialist.

An Egyptian working in a bakery in a Cairo market, March 17, 2022 © Khaled DESOUKI / AFP

For graduates, "there is no other way out than a job abroad", assures Salma, the translator, while flourishing on social networks job offers in the Gulf or explanations on equivalences degrees in Europe.

Those who succeed join the ranks of emigrants who send nearly 30 billion euros to Egypt every year.

For those who cannot leave like Manar, the priority is education -- in the private sector, the quality of education in the public sector being low.

"To be sure that your child learns something, you have to pay at least 20,000 to 40,000 pounds (between 625 and 1,250 euros) each year in primary school," says Manar.

"The problem is that we don't know if it will end there," she continues.

"We must be ready to sell everything... hoping that our children will have a better future".

© 2023 AFP