In Egypt, a shortage of subsidized bread has resulted in long lines and occasional clashes in which several people have been killed. The president has ordered the army to use its bakeries to try to end the bread crisis, but the roots of the problem are more than just simple supply and demand. Rising food prices and poverty have combined with corruption to create a bread problem that will not be easily solved.
在埃及，由政府补贴的平价面包出现短缺，结果买面包的队伍越来越长，期间甚至发生冲突，造成人员死亡。埃及总统命令军方的面包房向市场供货，以求缓解面包危机。不过，这场危机的根源并不仅限于供求失衡。食品涨价、贫困、以及腐败等问题交织在一起，造成了这个棘手难题。
About 30 people are crowding around two small windows at a Cairo bakery, shouting at each other and jostling for the best place in line. The heat is blistering already, and women in the crowd shade themselves from the sun with plastic bags.
在开罗的一家面包店两扇狭小的窗前，大约30个等候买面包的顾客吵吵嚷嚷地挤成一团。炎炎烈日下，人群里的妇女只好把塑料袋罩在头上，权作遮蔽。
A woman named Fatma says she waits here for two to three hours every day to buy bread for her family of five.
一名叫法塔玛的女顾客说，为了一家5口人能吃上饭，她每天都要在这里排上两、三个小时的队。
Gesturing toward the chaos at the bakery window, she says, "What can I say? You can see this bread problem for yourself. The prices of everything have gotten so high."
法塔玛指着眼前乱作一团的景象，无可奈何地表示：“能说什么呢？面包的问题大家有目共睹。什么东西现在都贵得离谱。”
This bakery is selling round loaves of government-subsidized bread, known locally as "balady" or country bread. The price is fixed at five Egyptian piasters, or less than one U.S. cent a loaf.
这家面包店卖的是政府补贴的平价圆面包。当地人把这种面包称为“巴拉迪”，就是乡下面包的意思。这种面包的单价固定在5个皮阿斯特，相当于不到一美分。
In recent months, rising food prices have fueled a shortage of this subsidized bread, leading to long lines and short tempers. Several people have been killed in fighting that has broken out in bread lines or clashes between customers and bakers.
最近几个月来，食品涨价导致这种平价面包出现短缺。于是，人们买面包排的队越来越长，情绪也越来越焦躁。抢购面包引发的冲突已经造成几人死亡。
Last week, President Hosni Mubarak ordered the army to use its bakeries to make balady bread in an effort to stem the shortage. But it is not simply a matter of supply and demand; even the president acknowledged that part of the problem is corruption.
上星期，埃及总统穆巴拉克命令军用面包房烘烤巴拉迪面包投放市场，以求缓解危机。但是，目前的问题并非简单的供求失衡。甚至连穆巴拉克总统本人也承认，腐败是问题的原因之一。
Economist Hanaa Kheir el-Din is executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies.
经济学家汗纳.基尔.艾尔丁是埃及经济研究中心执行主任。
"All other food prices have risen. There are a lot of food prices which rose sizably - look at the oil price for instance, rice, sugar, everything is rising - but balady bread has been kept at five piasters a loaf, and the flour which goes into it is delivered at a much lower price while the baker can sell it on the black market at several times the price," said Kheir el-Din.
他说：“其他食品都在涨价。很多食品涨幅相当大，比如食用油、大米、糖等等，这些都在涨。巴拉迪面包的价格固定在5个皮阿斯特。烘烤这些平价面包的面粉也是低价进的，但是面包房可以在黑市上以几倍的价钱出售这些面包。”
The corruption is not limited to selling subsidized wheat flour on the black market.
腐败现象不止是有人把平价面包拿到黑市上高价出售。
At the bakery, a heavy metal door swings open and then clangs shut quickly, and a man scurries away holding five round pieces of freshly baked bread.
在一家面包店，一扇沉重的金属门突然打开，然后又很快地关上。一名男子捧着5个刚刚出炉的圆面包迅速离去。
Another man who gives his name only as Samir waves his hand angrily toward the door.
面包店前，一位名叫萨米尔的男子手指面包店，忿忿不平。
He says the bakery employees let some people inside to get bread quickly while he and the rest are waiting in line outside in the sun for hours.
萨米尔抱怨说，面包店的工作人员让一些人插队买到面包，而他和其他顾客却要在炎热的太阳下苦等几个小时。
This is an emotional issue. Bread is such a vital staple food here that Egyptians use a different word for it than other Arabic-speakers do - they call it "aish," which literally means "life."
在埃及，面包的确是一个容易激化情绪的问题。面包这种主食对于埃及人来说如此重要，以至于他们在阿拉伯语里独创了一个字“阿什”来形容面包。“阿什”的原意就是生命。
Egypt's government has taken other measures to try to rein in rising food prices, including stopping the export of locally grown rice. And other governments in the region are facing similar troubles - over the past few months, food prices have sparked demonstrations and riots in countries such as Morocco, Yemen and even wealthy Saudi Arabia.
埃及政府也采取了其他措施来控制食品涨价，其中包括停止出口本地大米。与此同时，西亚北非的其他一些国家也面临同样的麻烦。过去几个月里，食品价格问题在摩洛哥、也门、甚至是相对富裕的沙特阿拉伯引发了抗议和骚乱。
In Egypt, the bread crisis is a symptom of a larger problem - one of stagnant wages that have failed to keep up with the cost of living. There is no shortage of bread for those willing and able to pay higher prices for it. Some people who buy the subsidized product resell it just down the street for twice the price. And unsubsidized bread is in plentiful supply at local markets, but that costs five times as much.
在埃及，面包危机只是一个深层问题的表象而已。埃及停滞的工资水平没有跟上生活开支的增速。对于那些能够并且愿意支付高昂价格的人来说，并不存在面包短缺问题。一些购买了平价面包的人走到街道另一端，转手就以双倍的价格卖掉。在地方市场上，议价面包随处可见，但价格往往是平价面包的5倍左右。
Fatma says the unsubsidized bread is too expensive, and the loaves are smaller than the real balady ones. She says she simply cannot afford to feed her children that way.
法塔玛说，议价面包太贵，个头也不如巴拉迪面包那么大，所以她根本没有办法靠议价面包养活她的孩子。
She says her family of five lives on a single pension of only 350 Egyptian pounds a month, or just over $60. That is similar to the wages earned by civil servants and factory workers, and even doctors in public hospitals.
她说，她们一家5口人的全部收入来源只有每个月350埃磅的退休金，这笔钱大约折合成60美元。埃及的公务员、工人、甚至国营医院的医生也就挣这么多钱。
Fatma says each of her family members eats two pieces of bread a day. If she had to buy unsubsidized bread at five cents apiece, she would end up spending about one quarter of her monthly income on bread alone.
法塔玛说，她家每人每天吃两块面包。如果花上5倍的价钱买议价面包的话，她们家每个月光是买面包就要花掉收入的四分之一。
The rising food prices have helped fuel protests and strikes by working professionals around the country.
在埃及各地，食品涨价引发了在职人员的抗议和罢工。
Economist Hanaa Kheir el-Din says the entire wage system needs to be overhauled, and the food subsidies cannot be removed until ordinary working Egyptians can earn a living wage.
经济学家艾尔丁说，埃及的工资体系需要全面改革。艾尔丁认为，在普通的埃及劳动者可以挣到一份足以糊口的工资之前，政府补贴不能取消。
"You cannot pay a person 100 pounds a month as income and then let him buy whatever commodities are available in the market at market prices," said Kheir el-Din. "One has to revise the subsidy program along with revising the income policy, particularly wages in the government sector."
艾尔丁说：“如果一个人月工资只有一百埃磅的话，他在市场上按市价消费是非常困难的。所以，政府在调整补贴项目的同时也需要对工资政策作出相应调整，尤其是在政府部门。”
The World Bank says Egypt's economy has been growing at a healthy rate of seven percent per year, but at the same time, poverty has been growing too. So Egypt's poor are not seeing the benefits of the economic growth, and roughly 20 percent of the population is below the official poverty line, living on less than two dollars a day.
世界银行的数据显示，埃及经济增长良好，目前每年增幅为7%。但与此同时，埃及的贫困问题也在加剧，因此，埃及的穷人没能充分享受经济增长的果实。埃及人口中大约有20%生活在官方划定的贫困线以下，这些人每天的生活开支不到两美元。
The last time the Egyptian government tried to remove subsidies on bread, in 1977, riots broke out and more than 70 people were killed.
埃及政府上一次试图取消面包补贴是在1977年。当时引发了一场骚乱，70多人丧生。
But food subsidies now take up a huge portion of Egypt's annual budget, one that is growing as global food prices rise.
但是，食品补贴现在占埃及政府预算的很大一部分；而且随着全球粮食涨价，这个比重也水涨船高。
Kheir el-Din says the subsidies need to be targeted to the neediest people.
经济学家艾尔丁说，补贴政策的对象应该是那些最需要帮助的人。
"Balady bread in particular should not be made available to people who can afford better bread," he said. "This should be targeted to the people who cannot afford to buy a 25- or 40-piaster loaf. But everybody may get this subsidized bread, and this is where the subsidy program has to be revised."
艾尔丁说：“比如象巴拉迪面包，那些买得起优质面包的人就不应该享受这项补贴。这种补贴应当只适用于那些买不起每磅25皮阿斯特、40皮阿斯特的面包的人。但是现在人人都可以买补贴面包。所以补贴项目必须修改。”
Back at the bakery, Fatma sighs as she stares at the raucous crowd pushing and shoving to get closer to the front. She shakes her head and moves into line, saying under her breath, "May God have mercy on the poor."
在面包店，家庭妇女法塔玛看着眼前挤成一团的顾客，无可奈何地叹了口气。她摇了摇头，小声嘀咕了一句“老天保佑穷人”，然后向人群里挤去。 |