How the invasion of Ukraine will spread hunger in the Middle East and Africa

THE LAST time Egypt raised bread prices, the Soviet Union was still intact. Since 1989 subsidised bakeries have offered 20 loaves of , a glutinous pita that is a staple, for one Egyptian pound. Back then that sum was worth almost $1. Today it is worth about six cents, less than a tenth of what it costs to produce the bread.The state spends 45bn pounds ($2.9bn) a year to make up the difference, more than half its total food-subsidy bill. No government has dared tinker with this costly arrangement. Bread is the main source of calories for millions of Arabs, and thus an explosive political issue.