Al Ahram quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Mohamed El Dahshan on the Egyptian economy:
The numbers for women are even more telling of an unemployment epidemic: women are “3.8 times more likely to be unemployed than young men” reports Brookings. “Egypt has no idea how to deal with the informality… besides regularly asking informal businesses to register” emphasises Mohamed El-Dahshan, development economist and fellow at the Atlantic Council. But El-Sisi has no choice, points out El-Dahshan: “A coherent plan needs to be devised.” The economic quagmire is further compounded by inflationary rates that have only escalated in the three years following the revolution.
“The weakening of the pound vis-à-vis foreign currencies means that the cost of imported goods is increasing,” says El-Dahshan. This dynamic is, to a degree, currently diffused by cash injections from the Gulf States that have supported El-Sisi from the get go. But this won’t last, explains El-Dahshan. This can only be “temporary” as the well will run dry. “I doubt Gulf countries would be willing to keep injecting cash for long.” No matter how you slice it, El-Sisi may be in for an arduous summer.