Expert: Govt mechanisms to tackle poverty not enough – INTERVIEW

Sunday, December 15, 2013 1:49 PM 
Applied Statistics Professor at Cairo University Heba al-Leithy in an interview with Aswat Masriya in December, 2013.

By Nader Hassan

CAIRO, Dec 15 (Aswat Masriya) An economics expert said last week that the mechanisms that the Egyptian government depends on to confront poverty, such as subsidy, are not enough at the time being.

Applied Statistics Professor at Cairo University, Heba al-Leithy, told Aswat Masriya that she urges the government to establish a governmental body to deal with the issue.

Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the number of Egyptians living under the poverty line has increased in the year 2012 – 2013 to 26.3% compared to the 25% of the year 2010 – 2011.

The CAPMAS produces poverty statistics every two years to alert decision-makers into making policies to provide assistance to locations that most need it.

According to CAPMAS, living under the poverty line includes those who are unable to meet their basic needs or earn below 3,920 Egyptian pounds (569.21  US Dollar) a year or about 326.7 Egyptian pounds (47.44 US Dollars) per month.

Leithy, who is working closely with CAPMAS, said that poverty has increased at a noticeable pace in Egypt since the beginning of the century, going up from 16.7% in 2000 to including more than quarter of Egyptians in the past year.

She added that the largest portion of impoverished Egyptians live in rural Upper Egypt, which includes the three poorest governorates; Assiut, Qena and Sohag.

The Cairo University Professor added that the ongoing political instabilities and security vacuums since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule have only had a slight influence on poverty ratios.

Leithy added that successful mechanisms that help elevate the living standards of the poor include: 1) Government efforts to enforce policies that prevent the rising prices of goods, 2) expanding the healthcare and social insurance umbrellas to include more citizens, 3) unemployment allowances and 4) regulating subsidy so that it reaches those who most need it.

The CAPMAS said in December that the Consumer Price Index in Egyptian cities has reached 13% in comparison to the 10.4% of October of 2010.

Leithy explained that there are long-terms plans that the government must execute to elevate the living standards of the poor and revive the economy, which include developing the infrastructure – especially of the roads and water and sewage networks.

She urged the government to raise education standards and make it easier for common citizens to obtain loans to support the establishing of small businesses.

She also urged the government to amend its system of subsidizing specific products like it said it would, explaining that the government often subsidizes goods of low nutrition value. 

This content is from : Aswat Masriya

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