Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2013

Abstract

This study assesses targeting efficiency and effectiveness of the two most important welfare programs in Egypt, the food subsidy program and the Social Assistance Program. The study uses two sources for data: field data for seven governorates in Egypt with the highest poverty ratio, and published data. It finds that the food subsidy program is fairly inefficient in targeting the lower income groups, especially in rural areas. Also, it is not well targeted on the governorates’ level. Upper Egypt governorates with the highest poverty ratios take less food subsidy, as compared to urban governorates with the lowest poverty levels. The study finds, also, that the Social Assistance Program is insufficient to cover the minimum cost of living for the lowest income groups in Egypt, and it is not well targeted on the governorates’ level, given their relative poverty levels. Finally, assessing the impact of in-kind subsidy vis- à-vis cash subsidy on poverty in Egypt, it has been found that in-kind subsidy is preferable to cash subsidy, since with the high inflation rate in the country, the former provides the poor with a set amount of necessary food commodities, while the purchasing power of cash transfers will deteriorate with the rise in prices. However, the distribution system of the in-kind subsidy has to be structurally revised to welltarget the poor and the low-income people in Egypt.

Identifier

2334-282X

Journal Title

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

ISSN

2334-282X

Publisher

Middle East Economic Association and Loyola University Chicago

Volume

15

Comments

Presentation of the articles in the Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies was made possible by a limited license granted to Loyola University Chicago and Middle East Economics Association from the authors who have retained all copyrights in the articles. http://www.luc.edu/orgs/meea/volume15/meea15.htm

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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