Gov’t provides housing units as part of larger safety net

CAIRO - 9 July 2017: The second phase of “Sotra” project, which aims at constructing and developing homes for the neediest families, will be launched today, a statement from the Social Solidarity Ministry said Sunday.

The project is being implemented by the ministry in cooperation with Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, and Misr El Kheir foundation, a local NGO.

The first phase of the project saw the completion of 1,007 houses in three governorates, including Beni Suef, Minya and Sohag with a total cost of LE 120 million.

The project aims to provide the vulnerable segments with social security through extending them with housing needs. The goal of the project is to build 10,000 housing units, which will be given to 10,000 families in the neediest governorates across Egypt.
The second phase will cover eight governorates namely, Fayoum, Luxor, Qena, Aswan, Dakahliya, Giza, Alexandria and New Valley.

Egypt has been expanding its social safety net to protect the country’s poor against the rising costs of living.

The government has taken a handful of measures in that respect recently, especially after the Central Bank’s decision to float the Egyptian pound in November last year, which caused the local currency to halve in value and therefore led to price increases across the board.

Inflation reached 29.7 percent in May and is expected to increase as a result of the recent hikes in electricity and fuel prices.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has directed the government to implement several measures to ease economic burdens on citizens, including the more than doubling of the amount allocated to individuals with ration cards, from LE 21 to LE 50 per person.
This has increased the state budget for the subsidy cards from LE 45 billion to LE 85 billion.

Egypt's new 2017/18 budget, which came into effect this month, includes a social safety package worth LE 75 billion.

The measures include increasing pensions and upping the number of beneficiaries of the Takaful and Karama programs, a social safety net that covers the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.