美国国家公共电台 NPR--Egypt faces a deepening economic crisis. Is the government taking steps to fix it?

Egypt faces a deepening economic crisis. Is the government taking steps to fix it?

Transcript¹

Egypt's economic crisis compels people to make hard spending choices, and challenges the government to accept more foreign aid to support a rapidly growing population.

This audio was produced by Lisa Weiner and edited by Jacob Conrad.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Egypt is the Middle East's biggest country, but it is facing a deepening economic crisis. The government has been borrowing money to keep feeding its 105 million people with the help of subsidies². NPR's Aya Batrawy was just there, and she's with us now from Dubai to tell us more. Aya, thank you so much for joining us.

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE³: Thanks for having me, Michel.

MARTIN: So tell us what you heard from people as you went around Cairo.

BATRAWY: Well, let me just explain to you why everyone I spoke⁴ to is saying they have been impacted in some way. You have, first of all, the currency devaluing over 50% compared to the U.S. dollar in just the last year. And then you have, in addition to that, food inflation, which is above 60%. So this is being felt by everyone, just differently. So for average Egyptians, it means a lifestyle change. It means you can't afford chicken, so you try to substitute chicken with lentils or not being able to give your kids french fries 'cause you can't afford the cooking oil to make that. And for even poorer Egyptians, it means just more hardship and insecurity.

Even the government advised people to eat chicken feet as a replacement⁵ to, actually, chicken meat. And that's not something that's native to Egyptian diets or cuisine⁶, and it was seen as an insult to many people. But even wealthy Egyptians are feeling it. They can't travel abroad anymore. And even I had a friend of mine tell me her daughter asked her the other day for Frosted Flakes⁷. And she was like, no, it's 600 pounds. It's imported. We can't afford that today.

MARTIN: And I think a lot of people know Ramadan - the holy month of Ramadan began a few days ago. And you were there as people were stocking up or trying to. Like, what was the mood like?

BATRAWY: So this is a festive⁸ season, and the streets are lit up with colorful lights. And there's Ramadan decorations everywhere. And it's a time for family gathering⁹ and intense worship. So that kind of helps lift the mood. But it's also a time of zakat, which is a Muslim principle of charity and charitable giving and giving away of your money. So this definitely helps offset¹⁰ a lot of that for the poor. And that's where I met Fatma Hassan. She's a grandmother in her 70s, and I met her at a local charity office in Cairo where she was receiving a Ramadan food box, which was going to be filled with some pasta, tea, sugar, oil and other basics. So here's what she said to me. She says it's been two months since they've eaten chicken. She pointed¹¹ at her grandson that was next to her and says he keeps asking her...

FATMA HASSAN: (Non-English language spoken).

BATRAWY: "Aren't we going to eat chicken, Grandma?"

HASSAN: (Laughter).

BATRAWY: But as is common among Egyptians, she keeps a sense of humor about everything. But she says she's never seen chicken as expensive before. So Ramadan is a time of sacrifice and intense worship, and people are approaching that with this spirit.

MARTIN: Of course, now I want to know, why is this economic crisis happening? How did such a big country get into a situation like this?

BATRAWY: Well, there have been huge development projects happening over the past several years, and the government says these were all needed. But these are dollar-intensive projects, and they don't necessarily create new industries or new long-lasting jobs. And this was all happening just as last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine took place. And that meant that grain prices went soaring. But Egypt is the world's biggest importer of wheat and grains, and most of that wheat and grains was coming from the Black Sea region of Russia and Ukraine. So those high prices, combined with foreign investors¹² being jittery¹³ about Egypt and pulling out billions of dollars, really sent this economic crisis into freefall.

MARTIN: So, Aya, before we let you go, is the government taking steps to fix this? Are there any solutions being talked about?

BATRAWY: I mean, the solution for now is just to keep borrowing. But that's not a long-term solution because they're heavily in debt now to the International Monetary¹⁴ Fund, the World Bank, Gulf¹⁵ Arab donors¹⁶ like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates. And lenders are asking the government to curtail¹⁷ cronyism¹⁸ and corruption¹⁹ and to allow more foreign investment in the private sector²⁰ to really grow. And they're doing all this as they're trying to boost tourism, especially around the area of the pyramids. But as Egypt is trying to figure all of this out, the clock is ticking. The population is rapidly expanding and so are the country's needs.

MARTIN: That is NPR's Aya Batrawy. She's in Dubai, sharing some of her reporting from Egypt. Aya, thank you so much.

BATRAWY: Thanks so much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

6 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

7 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

8 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

14 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

15 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

16 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

18 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。