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Story highlights
Egypt -- the Arab world's most populous nation -- is seeking a rescue loan of $4.8 billion
Egypt is grappling with a high unemployment rate of 13% and a young workforce
International Monetary Fund projects inflation in Egypt to rise to 10.7 in 2013
In the outlying slums of Cairo, people “drown in oceans of garbage” and are forced to live with the stench of polluted air, says Mahmoud Gamal, 26, a marketing executive living in Cairo, Egypt’s capital.
Gamal’s comments were made through CNN iReport, which has an assignment on life in Egypt under President Mohamed Morsy.
The iReporters describe a life in which many people in the North African nation are facing a daily battle against poverty, spiraling inflation and high unemployment. Morsy, meanwhile, is in negotiations for the country to get an economic rescue package from the International Monetary Fund.
Sectarian violence and protests over rising prices and poor wages following the Arab Spring are decimating foreign investment. The country also remains divided over Islamist leader Morsy, who came to power as Egypt’s first popularly elected president after Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.
Morsy’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the economic situation in his country when contacted by CNN. But, in an exclusive interview with CNN in January, Morsy said: “To start real stability and development, we may take six months or a year but to reach what we want may take five to 10 years… I’m talking economically.”
