To save Egypt’s economy, get the army out of it

TO THE LISTGDP of spectacular ruins across Egypt, you can now add . The Egyptian pound lost half its value over the past year and has been the world’s worst-performing currency in 2023. On January 5th the government devalued it for the third time in less than a year. Nearly half of the state’s revenue goes to servicing its debts, which amount to 90% of . Officially, inflation is running at 21%. The price of food is rising even faster. But official figures have not kept up with , so the reality is almost certainly worse.This has brought misery to the Egyptian people. Around a third of them live on less than $2 a day. Another third are on the brink of joining them. They have been failed by officials who put their own interests above those of their citizens.