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Doaa Moneim – Ahram Online
The poverty rate in Egypt declined to 29.7% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019/2020, down from 32.5% two years earlier, according to the poverty, consumption, and income research conducted by the Central Authority for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
This is the first time Egypt sees a decrease in its poverty rate since 1999.
Households’ net annual income average increased to E£69,100 in FY 2019/20, up from E£60,400 in FY 2017/18, recording an increase of 15%, the study found.
The findings were announced at a press conference on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala el-Said, and other state officials.
“The study measures Egyptians’ living standards”, said Khairy Baraka, head of CAPMAS. “Prior to 2016 the Authority compiled research data every five years and now it is conducted every two years”, he added.
He explained that the research was conducted on 26,000 households.
“This kind of research helps the government achieve inclusive and sustainable development, launch programmes which aim at bridging development gaps, reduce poverty rates and improve living standards”, said minister Hala el-Said.
She explained, “positive research results were attained due to the economic reform programme which Egypt implemented in November 2016. The current FY 2020/2021 includes the largest public investment allocations which were increased by 70 percent to E£595 Billion in order to tackle the side effects of the economic reform programme and the challenging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”, el-Said added.
