Sawt Falasteen - Egyptians feel Iran war shockwaves as fuel prices jump

Hours after price hikes of up to 30 percent were announced in the middle of the night, a Cairo market bustled with buyers and vendors fretting over vegetable prices and transport fares.

"The cost of everything is going up and up. It's been a week now that prices have already been rising," said Om Mohamed, a mother of six whose daily commute cost went up nearly 30 percent on Tuesday.

"We were barely getting by as it is. I don't know how people will manage," she told AFP.

The hikes -- applied to gasoline, diesel and natural gas -- come after oil prices briefly spiked above $119 a barrel on Monday, as oil and gas tankers remain blocked in the Strait of Hormuz.

Although thousands of kilometres away from the war, the region's most populous nation has already been affected, its currency dropping to a record low against the US dollar this week.

Meanwhile, shipping firms have begun rerouting away from the Suez Canal, depriving Cairo of a vital source of foreign currency.

- 'No war' -

"There is no war in Egypt," said Ahmed Hassan, a 33-year-old taxi driver.

"But we feel its impact every day. This morning I was shocked when I filled my tank."

Rising numbers at the fuel pump is a familiar anxiety-inducing sight in Egypt, which has cut fuel subsidies four times over the past two years.

With each hike came a wave of inflation, decimating savings in a country where salaries rarely keep pace with growing costs.

Inflation rang in at 13.4 percent last month, far lower than the record 40 percent recorded in August 2024, when a punishing economic crisis peaked.

It has since eased, but left traumatised Egyptians getting by with a fraction of their savings.

Outside the market, 72-year-old truck driver El-Sayed Mohamed ran the numbers.

"If it cost 400 pounds (nearly $8) to deliver produce before, now it's 800," he said. "This will raise the price of every product here."

The government has warned price gougers could be tried in military courts and sought to reassure the public.

On Tuesday, the cabinet said it was reprioritising public spending, including by limiting non-essential government travel and rationing street lighting.

Public sector salaries will be raised, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli said, and indicated the measures could be revisited if the conflict subsides.

But many remain sceptical.

"Nothing that goes up in price in Egypt comes back down, ever," said Walid Ibrahim, another cab driver, shaking his head at a petrol station.

H.Jarrar--SF-PST