Egyptian newspapers are in deep water after a major state-run printing service announced its decision to increase printing prices following the November decision to float the pound. This takes place amid an ongoing decline in newspaper distribution, and observers expect that some newspapers will collapse entirely following the decision.

In late November, the state-run Al-Ahram printing service sent a letter to all its contracting Egyptian newspapers to announce it would raise printing costs by 80% starting Dec. 15, due to the increasing value of the US dollar against the Egyptian pound.

Editors of private and public newspapers, as well as media experts, said the decision is catastrophic and may lead to the closure of several newspapers in the coming months.

“The decision is putting the print journalism industry in Egypt in a real crisis,” said Walaa El-Sheikh, editor-in-chief of the privately owned newspaper Al-Dostor. Sheikh told Al-Monitor that the cost of a newspaper may increase by 2 to 4 Egyptian pounds (10 to 20 cents), which ordinary citizens can't afford. “Egyptians cannot bear more burdens,” he said. The cost of most newspapers in Egypt ranges between 1.4 to 2 Egyptian pounds (8 to 10 cents), while about a quarter of Egyptians live on less than $1 per day, according to the World Bank.