‘Life is ebbing away’: Egyptians face peril at sea

[Chris]

Here is an interesting article from the Guardian about Egyptians fleeing by boat to Italy but this particular paragraph in the article tells us more about the Egyptian economy:

".....They are fleeing a rapidly collapsing economy after the Egyptian pound lost over a third of its value against the dollar this year alone, alongside a spike in inflation that is causing a sharp rise in the cost of living as the state dives deeper into debt. The most recent official statistics on the country’s poverty rate, from at least three years ago, estimated that almost a third of the country lives below the poverty line. The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who swept to power in a military coup in 2013, has spearheaded austerity measures that have driven a deep gulf between state-backed elites and increasing numbers of Egyptian citizens now struggling to survive....."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... -to-europe

[A-Four]

Yes Chris, it seems you're right. I know that I am looking at this terrible problem from the outside but, I am still informed of the problems there.

Inflation is a dreadful thing especially for the poor and very poor, here in the U.K., it has reached 10%+, however in Egypt it has reached 20+, so therefore rural inflation for the likes of Luxor must be even higher. I have recently been checking on holidays (flight and hotels for two weeks) to Luxor. There are none available, we in the past would say 'Oh well it is the peak season', but actually the tour companies are simply no longer sending people there. It seems my future last visit will be by the old original route to Cairo, then the night train, as it was almost 30 years ago. (I might even like that idea, just for memory sake.) This idea of Hurgarda and cruise, with the prospect of seeing so little of the Luxor is not my thing, but I dread to think what real impact this is having on those who depend on tourism there.

One interesting bit of information coming from the Egyptian government on Wednesday (14th December), came from the mouth of the prime minister Mr Mostafa Madbouly,......It is to become law within two weeks that ALL retailers must show the price of all items for sale including markets. It will be enforced throughout the nation, and inspectors will monitor this as from 28th December, (just before Christmas then),..........I wish them good luck with that one in Luxor.

[Teddyboy]

I know several traders in the Tourist Market in Luxor who have previously tried to join the 'fixed price' brigade. But the tourists are so used to, or have read so much about, bargaining (often stupidly misnamed as 'bartering') that it has proven impossible!

[A-Four]

I know several traders in the Tourist Market in Luxor who have previously tried to join the 'fixed price' brigade. But the tourists are so used to, or have read so much about, bargaining (often stupidly misnamed as 'bartering') that it has proven impossible!

I'm not so sure that this will be pointed so much to the general tourist market, for myself when I lived on the WB years ago, I bought from my local shops, they knew me like others in what I always liked to call 'my ally', so you got a real price. Unfortunately in the many large towns throughout Egypt people have to buy from general markets, not just food but clothes and even electrical goods.

Years ago I knew several Egyptian medical doctors who bought their fruit and veg from the say shop as myself, they always paid above the real price of items, perhaps they felt sorry for the humble shop keeper, I'm not sure, but when poor people bought from him he always put a few extra things in their bags. I suppose it's that old thing I learnt there 'that you should always know who is poor in your ally', simply because you live there, and part of the same ally. Maybe that old system has fallen down, I hope not.

These days I live on the South Downs in Sussex, every morning a man arrives by taxi to my local rail station, he sits outside and begs from the many commuters that travel up to London each day, he always leave after about three hours. Most people who see him do not realise he make more money than they do, the same goes for many who operate in near-by Brighton and Hove.