32.5% of Egyptians living below poverty line as final IMF loan looms

Egypt announced one in every three citizens was living in poverty in 2018. 32.5 percent of Egyptians lived below the poverty line that year, up from 27.8 percent in 2015 and 16.7 percent in 2000, the state-owned  statistics agency (CAPMAS) said on Monday.

Monday’s report was the first on poverty and income since the government secured a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during 2016.

The government has imposed hikes in the price of fuel, government services and utilities, implemented a value-added tax and floated the currency.

The austerity measures have taken a heavy toll on poor and middle-class Egyptians.

The IMF is set to deliver the final round of the bailout in the coming weeks.

Source: AP