1977 Egyptian bread riots

[1] The roots of Egyptian subsidy system are to be found during World War II (in 1941), when the government wanted to assure everyone access to basic food, in rationed quantity and at low prices.

In the 1980s the program consisted of subsidies on almost twenty foodstuffs (among which: bread, flour, sugar, rice, tea, edible oil, beans, lentils, macaroni, coffee, sesame, shortening, imported cheese, frozen meat, fish, eggs and chicken), which the people could access through ration cards that granted them specific prices.

[8] To reduce the burden of the $9000 million worth debt, Anwar Sadat pursued Infitah (openness) policies, which had--since he took power in 1970--sought to liberalise the economy and privileging the bourgeois class, which supported the government.

Furthermore, in the second half of the 1970s Egypt's agricultural stagnation led the country's food consumption to depend for the 40% on foreign imports, of which 78% was wheat.

The fault for the poor harvests was attributed to Nasserian agrarian reforms, which brought restrictions on landownership, low crop prices and rent controls in favour of fair land distribution.

[9] As stated in the interview by Dr. Hamed Latif el-Sayeh (minister of the Economy and Economic Cooperation in 1977), the government had four major beneficiaries of the total budget: the military, investment, subsidies and debt service.

The rise in prices affected basic commodities such as bread, tea, flour, rice, cigarettes and gas for heating.

[1] The cut of subsidies, seen from the people's perspective, topped a series of problems that Sadat's government was not facing or failing to address, such as shortages in housing and food, transport inefficiency, and employment.

Rioters attacked all those elements that recalled to the prosperity of the middle class and the corruption of the regime, shouting slogans like, "Ya batal el-'obur, fen el-fotür?"

[1] The claim that rioters wanted to overthrow the regime is hard to believe since, even though they presented traits of organization, they still were not symptoms of a larger plot against Sadat.

[9] In a public speech in the days that followed the insurrections, the President claimed that the violences were instigated and organised by the Communists, backed by the Soviet Union, and by the left.

[12] Part of the responsibility was also attributed to Libya, with which Egypt had tense relations following the lack of economic support in the aftermath of the 1967 War against Israel.

[1] The points addressed: In the February plebiscite, the government assured tax exemption to people with an income lower than E£500 or owned a maximum of three fadeins.

Sadat responded with the so-called "Law of Shame" (Arabic: قانون العيب), that vaguely condemned several political sins and had to be executed by a court in the hands of deputies of the People's Assembly.