Global Food Price Shock and the Poor in Egypt and Ukraine

The global food price shock of 2006-2008 affected the poorer strata of populations in several developing countries. In Egypt and Ukraine, it has put food subsidy schemes to the test. See how their subsidy schemes and policy responses compare in CASE Network Studies and Analyses Report No. 403. 

The report illustrates the limited ability of realistic policy responses to mitigate the negative social consequences of an external price shock. It finds that the strategy of food import tariff cuts can be a partial remedy, and that the Egyptian system of food subsidies needs substantial reforms in order to limit the related fiscal burden and to improve the targeting of poor populations.

The report has been published following the completion of Global Food Price Shock and the Poor in Egypt and Ukraine: A Comparison of Policy Regimes and Reform Options, a FEMISE research network project carried out by CASE in partnership with CASE-Ukraine and ECES-Egyptian Center for Economic Studies.  The project analysed food subsidy system reforms by building a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model for Egypt and Ukraine.