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The clamor around the valuable steel is developing as the strength of the country’s currency plummets against the dollar and inflation eats away at savings.
By Vivian Yee and Nada Rashwan
For this article, journalists spent time with gold traders and consumers at the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo.
In the wood-paneled shop of Cairo’s famous Khan el-Khalili market, the value of gold was plummeting and Rania Hussein felt the future slipping out of her hands.
She and her mother watched as the gold merchant weighed the necklace and the three bracelets they had brought—jewelry that Mrs. Hussein had bought for her mother as a gift five years ago but now had to sell. Her brother was about to get married, a beloved entrepreneur even in general times, but the economic crisis and rising inflation that have plagued Egypt for more than two years left the family no choice.
Years of reckless spending and economic mismanagement culminated in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped plunge Egypt into a currency crisis. The war in Gaza has deepened the pain.
The crisis has increased the value of eggs in the grocery store, as well as the new furniture her brother historically has to buy for the marital home, Hussein said. He also closed his clothing design business and wiped out three-quarters of his business. of his brother’s salary as an accountant.
And, oddly enough, it has disappointed Khan el-Khalili’s usually quiet jewellery and gold bullion shops, with its outdated symptoms with curly letters and recitations of the Koran coming from dusty speakers. The market, as the Egyptian currency collapses, has an increased demand for gold as a safe haven from the crisis.
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