Egyptians are budgeting for bread as prices soar 10 times after food aid cuts, according to reports from Cairo. Eman Abdel Fattah, a 42-year-old mother of four, now worries about bread instead of meat, as her family's food subsidy card was suspended in July. Egyptian flatbread, a staple of nearly every meal, now costs her 10 times more than before, according to AFP.

The government has removed 850,000 people from subsidies since june, with millions more expected to be excluded next year. The reforms aim to cut the cost of one of the world's largest food subsidy programmes, as Egypt pursues International Monetary Fund-backed reforms. Officials say they will only exclude the 'undeserving', but many Egyptians live paycheck-to-paycheck after years of double-digit inflation.

Families have lost subsidies partly due to children's private school enrollment, despite low fees. Siham Abdel Qawi, 40, has foregone fruit, animal protein and sweets, while her freezer now contains little more than vegetables and ice trays. Last year, some nine million Egyptians were undernourished, while over 30 per cent of the population suffered food insecurity, according to the UN.

The supply ministry did not respond to AFP's request for comment, but former supply ministry official Hisham Kamel told AFP that private school fees 'may reflect sacrifices the families are making, not comfortable financial means'. The government says only elite international schools are cause for exclusion, but all five families interviewed by AFP were told it was because of their children's enrolment in private schools, even with tuition as low as 10,000 pounds.

Political sociologist Kressen Thyen said targeted welfare systems rarely 'work perfectly'. 'Many vulnerable families are removed because of administrative errors and loopholes in the system,' she told AFP. Kamel added that bureaucratic mistakes might show that 'some families own assets on paper that they have already sold'. Thousands of people have appealed the decision, according to a supply ministry spokesman, but most are unable to manage the paperwork, travel and time required to contest the move.

The subsidy purge comes as Egyptians already face a cost of living crisis, most unable to keep the same living standards they had a few years ago. According to urban research group 10 Tooba, average monthly rent in Cairo has risen to 10,500 pounds per month, far outpacing the minimum wage of 7,000 pounds, which workers say is rarely enforced. Bread carries the same emotional and political weight as it did in 1977, when riots forced the government to reverse planned subsidy cuts, and as it did in 2011, when 'bread, freedom and social justice' became a defining slogan of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

With every wave of liberalisation reform, the government had steered clear of subsidised bread, until 2024, when it raised the price from five to 20 piasters a loaf. In January, the government is set to deliver a new upheaval, when it begins shifting the card system to direct cash assistance. Critics say inflation, now at 14.9 percent, will quickly erode its value, leaving the vast majority of Egyptians struggling to put food on the table. What remains unknown is the full extent of the impact on vulnerable households and the effectiveness of the reforms in addressing the underlying economic crisis.