GOLD -GIRLS EGYPT- GIRDS : HUMANS GLOBAL ESSAY

! FIRST AND FOREMOST ! : This beautiful lyrical essay is dedicated to the outstanding accomplishments and services rendered to his country Proud Pakistan, by Esteemed Shabbar Zaidi, the former Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue.

GIRLS BETTING on Gold, reluctantly. In Egypt's failing economy, speculators seek out this beautiful, alluring and life sustaining metal despite market volatility.

'' MY MEMORIES WILL COVER IT ALL '' : While still an outstanding student, I have a distinct record of Rabo handing over some money to me to enable a struggling founder and student who had his internet blocked.

And then this distinguished founder of !WOW!, Haleema, following up secretly and in grace, many kind acts of feeling and helping and sharing with fellow humans.

And with Dee, giving away her prized gold earrings to a stricken, admiring poor girl. And founder Hussain giving away to help struggling colleagues, families and humans. I saw it all, first hand, '' POWERED BY HOW ''.

IN GLORIOUS TIME AHEAD, I am planning to miss nothing - my experiences and thoughts on outstanding humans like Dr. M Jawad Khan - University of California, M Fahim Khan, University of Surrey,  and Imran Khan, Trinity College, Europe. But for now...........

INSIDE the wood-paneled shop in Cairo's famed Khan-eL-Khalil market, the price of gold was slumping fast, and Rania Hussein was feeling the future slip through her fingers.

She and her mother watched the gold merchant weigh the necklace and three bangles they had bought in - jewelry Ms. Hussein had bought for her mother as a present five years ago but which they now needed to sell.

Her brother was getting married, an expensive undertaking even in normal times, but the economic crisis and soaring inflation that have gripped Egypt for more than two years left the family no choice.

Years of reckless spending and economic mismanagement had come to a head in 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine helped plunge Egypt into a financial crisis. The war in Gaza has only deepened the pain.

On the day Ms. Hussein visited the market, the price of gold was dropping fast after news that Egypt might have found a lifeline to save it from what had, until then, looked like looming financial ruin.

The country late last month struck a $35 billion deal for the United Arab Emirates to develop a new city and tourism destination on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.

Within hours of the deal's announcement, Egypt's pound strengthened, the dollars black-market value fell and gold prices dropped with it.

If the Emirati funds materialize as promised, analysts say, the cash, along with a new $8 billion bailout agreement with the IMF, will help Egypt stabilize its economy.

It will help the country avoid a debt default, pay for a backlog of needed imports and undercut the black market in dollars created by a shortage of foreign currency.

As they watched the value of their paychecks and savings evaporate over the past two years, the poor skimped on food, the middle class pulled their children out of good schools for cheaper or free ones, and even the better-off went without vacations and meals out. 

Millions of people descended into poverty.

Traditionally, Egyptians have bought gold jewelry as a long-term saving strategy, but speculators have now turned to coins and ingots to try to turn a quick profit, said Saeed Imbaby, the founder of i Sagha, a gold trading platform.

Demand for gold doubled and then some, driving up the price. The market grew so fevered that the government announced in November that it was partnering with a financial technology company to install A.T.M.s that would dispense gold bars instead of cash. 

'' It's not guaranteed that it'll go up, and I am afraid that it'll go down again,'' Ms. Hussain said of the falling price of gold as she sat in the market shop, explaining why she had decided to sell.

Preventing the economy of the Middle East's most populous country from collapsing has likewise taken on new urgency for Egypt's Western partners and the war in Gaza.

The I.M.F. has said it plans to loan Egypt $8 billion, up from an initial $3 billion announced in October 2022.

Before the deal, growing economic pressure had forced the government to make some changes, including freezing some costly mega projects ordered up by President el-Sisi that had piled on the debt, among them a showy new capital in the desert.

But Egypt now has less incentive to change course.

The deal is '' a game changer,'' said Tarek Tawfik, the chairman of the Cairo poultry Group and president of Egypt's American Chamber of Commerce.

'' The question is, how will the money be used?''

This Master Global Essay continues in the future. The World Students Society thanks authors Vivian Yee and Nada Rashwan.