“In Egypt, IMF deal brings austerity few can afford” -Reuters: In a widely picked-up piece from yesterday, Reuters’ Lin Noueihed quotes a “smartly-dressed” civil servant in line for subsidized infant formula as saying: “Electricity is up, food is up. The only thing that doesn’t rise in Egypt is people’s pay yet all they talk about is cutting subsidies.” The pace of change in Egypt “is slow … and this is a reform program that calls for quick action and bravery, especially because some of the impact will be inflationary," Pharos Holding Chief Operating Officer Angus Blair. Egypt’s previous attempts to obtain an IMF loan were unsuccessful due to a lack of political will at the top to implement reforms, head of the IMF mission in Egypt Chris Jarvis said. Support from GCC allies “did more harm than good as it was not conditional on reform delivery, and actually removed the urgency to carry out critically-needed policy changes,” VTB Capital said in a note to clients. “Egypt now has a weaker macro / social starting point and requires deeper and, hence, more painful adjustment.”