On the international day for the eradication of poverty, Egypt announced that it aims to reduce poverty by half by 2020 and eliminate it by 2030 as part of its strategic development plan, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
According to the last report issued by CAPMAS, Egypt's poverty rate rose to 27.8% in 2015, compared to 25.2% in 2010-2011, Egypt's Ahram Online reported Wednesday (October 17th).
The IMF-inspired austerity measures Egypt has adopted since 2016 have put a strain on many Egyptians living under the poverty line.
The poverty line stands at 482 Egyptian pounds ($54) per month, while the extreme poverty line stands at 322 pounds ($36), according to the latest figures.
The government has been implementing different programmes to strengthen social protection for the poor and most vulnerable groups, including the 2015 Takaful and Karama income-support programme for families with children, which benefits some two million families in 5,630 villages across the country.
Other programmes address population growth, housing, healthcare and health insurance.
