Daily Times

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday announced a package of measures to cushion the impact of the soaring prices.

The measures included raising minimum wage for government employees to 3,500 Egyptian pounds (nearly 114 U.S. dollars) from 2,700 pounds and pensions by 15 percent, al-Sisi said in a speech that was broadcast by state-run Nile TV.

The new decisions, which will be enforced on April 1, seeks to “alleviate the effect of the global economic circumstances,” al-Sisi said.

The president said the Russia-Ukraine conflict has affected the global economy, which is yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, adding “Egypt, like other countries, was affected by the rise in energy and food prices due to the disruption of the global supply chain.”

Al-Sisi’s remarks came a few hours after a hike in fuel prices came into effect.

Rashad Abdo, a Cairo-based Egyptian economist, told Xinhua that those measures are important to ease people’s burdens amid the current inflation, yet are still not enough. He urged the government to monitor the private sector, which raises prices due to lack of governmental supervision.

According to official statistics, Egypt’s annual inflation reached 26.5 percent in January, the highest in five years.