date:Mar 14, 2013
verage of 8.7 percent, she said.
But Fahim added that inflation coupled with high unemployment, officially estimated at 13 percent, was likely to pressure the government into maintaining subsidies, despite their increasing burden on state finances.
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The government spends over $5.5 billion a year on food subsidies, which also cover items such as rice, oil and sugar. Curbs on bread subsidies triggered severe riots in 1977, and as recently as 2008, Mubarak faced protests