THE IMPACT OF POLITICAL AND MONETARY CHANGES ON THE LEVEL OF FOOD EXPENDITURE IN URBAN AND RURAL EGYPT

The study aimed to identify and compare changes in  consumer spending patterns in general and food expenditure in particular in both rural and urban areas during the period (2004 / 20052014 / 2015) Moreover  and the economic and monetary changes affecting the standard of livinghas also made in Egypt.  The study was based on quantitative and descriptive statistical methods such as arithmetic mean, rate of change and percentages, estimating the marginal slope of expenditure, and the elasticity of expenditure of the main food groups, and use of some quantitative analysis methods as a test of the difference between the average of two independent samples, (2004/05, 2014/2015), as well as some studies and research related to the subject of the study.  The results showed that the percentage of expenditure on food and drink in both rural and urban areas decreased from the total annual expenditure per capita in 2014/2015 compared to 2004/2005 and that it ranked first among the various expenditure groups during the two study periods and vice versa to the low rate of expenditure on housing in rural areas, the urban expenditure rate increased during 2014/2015.   The results showed that the relative importance of urban rural food expenditure, which was reflected in the reduction of the rural-urban food gap, increased from 27.6% to 14.5%. And vice versa, the percentage increased of the rural- urban nonfood gap, from 50.6% to 42.8% during the two study periods. However, the statistical is no significance of the difference between the average of two samples for the total expenditure, food and non-food between rural and urban during the two periods.  Results also showed an increase in expenditure on some food groups such as meat, vegetables, cheese, eggs, fish and non-alcoholic beverages, and the decrease in per capita expenditure on cereals and bread in both rural and urban areas during 2014-2015 compared to 2004/2005  The results showed the variation in the elasticity of the expenditure of the food and drink group in both rural and urban areas, some of which were necessary and some of them were morenecessary during 2004/2005. However, they increased per capita in rural areas for all food commodities during 2014-2015, However, most of the food commodities in urban areas is necessary commodities.  With reference to the political and monetary changes that occurred during the last ten years, the results of the study showed that the percentage of families living below the poverty line in the rural areas and their urban rise in 2014/2015 compared with 2004/2005, which means that the urban poor are more affected by their rural, The percent age of households living below the absolute poverty line in both rural and urban areas decreased in the second year compared to the first year. The percentage of non-poor households in both rural and urban areas increased in the second year compared with the first year, which indicates improvement Relative to the living conditions of some rural families, While in urban areas, the decline in the proportion of semi-poor families and the increase in the proportion of both poor and non-poor  households makes the change in living standards either positive or negative, but the study suggested that there was a transmission to those who were on the edge of poverty to below the poverty line, A change in the consumption pattern, which was affected by the high prices of most food commodities, especially meat and poultry and try to find different alternatives, whether from fish or from eggs and milk derivatives.