No AccessOct 2017
The Tamween Food Subsidy System in Egypt: Evolution and Recent Implementation Reforms
Abstract:
Reviews the historical development of the food subsidy system (FSS) in the Arab Republic of Egypt, places food subsidies within the context of Egypt’s broader social safety net system, and highlights major reforms, innovations, and challenges. According to the 2014–15 Household Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Expenditure Survey (HIECS), at least one of every four Egyptians is poor, one of every two is either poor or near poor, and a large proportion of the middle class remains trapped very close to the poverty line. Egypt’s FSS evolved from the provision of specific goods in-kind (subsidized at different stages of their production and distribution) in dedicated shops to an open voucher-style subsidy; modern technology improved accountability and oversight of subsidy provision. The contemporary system (tamween) includes the two components of baladi bread (BB) and ration cards (RCs), but continues to face challenges, including shortages of some basic commodities, continued distortions in the market, poor targeting, and lack of adequacy.
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