Egyptians Are Budgeting For Bread As Prices Soar 10 Times After Food Aid Cuts

Standing outside a bakery in Cairo's working-class El-Marg district, Eman Abdel Fattah thumbed a handful of crumpled banknotes, calculating how much bread she could afford after her family's food subsidy card was suspended."We used to worry about having enough money for meat," the 42-year-old mother of four told AFP, inching forward in the queue."Now we worry about bread," she said, saying it was the one thing her family cannot do without.Egyptian flatbread is a staple of nearly every meal, and now costs Abdel Fattah 10 times more than it did before her family lost their subsidy in July.She is among 850,000 people removed from Egypt's subsidy system since June, according to the supply ministry, as part of reforms that will reportedly exclude millions more next year.The measures aim to cut the cost of one of the world's largest food subsidy programmes, as Egypt pursues International Monetary Fund-backed reforms.Officials say they…