Egypt doubles capacity of ration cards

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says the government will increase the monthly capacity of ration cards through which it distributes food subsidies from LE21 ($1.16) per person to LE50 ($2.77) in an attempt to ease the effects of hard-hitting economic reforms.

El-Sissi said in a speech Tuesday night that the government has taken several measures to ease economic pressure. These include increasing retirement benefits by 15 percent, raising wages by 7-10 percent and expanding the scope of tax exemption eligibility.

Egypt floated its currency in November to meet a key demand from the International Monetary Fund, which provided a desperately needed $12 billion loan.