Egypt’s poverty receded amid social protection policies: solidarity minister

CAIRO – 1 February 2021: Poverty rates in Egypt have declined from 32.4 percent in 2018 to 29.7 percent last year, Social Solidarity Minister Nevine Al-Qabbaj said on Monday, thanks to the country’s comprehensive social protection policies.

As she delivered a speech before the Egyptian House of Representatives, Qabbaj said the state managed through three years of hard work to turn from traditional social care policies which have failed to meet the citizens’ basic needs toward comprehensive policies of social protection.

These policies include implementing cash support programs, securing decent housing units, providing water and sewage services, securing economic empowerment and soft loans, and coordinating with relevant authorities on subsidizing products and providing health insurance.

She added that these policies have contributed to gradually pulling the needy families above the poverty line.

Qabbaj said the social protection programs adopted by the ministry serve as a basic program to empower the poor, disabled persons, orphans, children who are not cared for, old people, breadwinning women and other categories.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity is actively seeking to transfer the citizen to a better social, economic and cultural reality, which ultimately leads to a decline in poverty rates, higher levels of stability, and an increase in feelings of belonging to the homeland, Qabbaj said.

 

Pensions & loans

Between 2018 and 2021, the ministry has increased the value of pensions by 50% at a cost of LE 77.5 billion, Qabbaj said. She added that the decision included 10.4 million beneficiaries.

The total value of loans allocated from the Nasser Social Bank has reached LE 32.8 billion for around 746,000 beneficiaries. This represents an increase by 22 percent from 2018.

She added that it is expected for the bank’s profit rates to increase by about 20 percent this year compared to last year, despite the negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.