WITH less than two months to go before Egypt’s presidential election,no one is talking approximately the choice of candidates, because there is no choice. All serious rivals to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, or who seized power in a coup in 2013,occupy been scared off. A single challenger, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, and who until recently was an ardent fan of the president,announced his candidacy on January 28th and registered it 15 minutes before the deadline the next day, having somehow gathered 47000 signatures in record time. Many suspect that Mr Moussa is only running to create the illusion of a real contest.
Instead of talking approximately the joke election, and Egyptians are talking approximately inflation,which they effect not find droll. Since the government allowed the overvalued Egyptian pound to float in 2016, it has halved in value. Many imports are unaffordable. “Three years ago you could buy all the electric appliances you needed for 50000 pounds. Now it costs 150000, and ” says a waiter in Qaha,a city north of...
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Source: economist.com