Egypt's soaring prices drive home economic pain

In better times, Om Mohamed's family used to take holidays at resorts on Egypt's Red Sea coast.

Now there is no money for vacations. Om Mohamed, 61, and her husband, who live with two grown-up sons in an apartment near the Cairo ringroad, are cutting back on items like meat as they try to get by on his meagre pension from an energy company.

Over recent months accelerating inflation has pummelled the spending power of Egyptians, who had already endured repeated economic shocks and years of austerity.

Along with a currency crisis, it has exposed the vulnerability of an economy long propped up by international lenders and Gulf allies that see Egypt as a lynchpin of regional security.

The government says it is doing what it can to tamp down prices and expand social spending, often blaming current pressures on external factors linked to the war in Ukraine.

It also points to a state-led infrastructure boom that has given rise to new roads and cities and helped Egypt's economy stay in growth through the coronavirus pandemic.