Regional Voices: Families bracing for another winter of hardship.
Old Man Tariq runs a small bakery in a bustling Amman market. The aroma of khubz – flatbread – usually fills the air, a comforting scent for locals. But these days, the smell is tinged with worry. “The flour price… it climbs every week,” he says, kneading dough with hands roughened by years of work. “I used to sell a loaf for half a dinar. Now? Almost three-quarters. People are buying less. They say they have to choose – bread for their children, or medicine for their mothers.” He pauses, wiping sweat from his brow. “It shouldn’t be a choice.”
His story isn’t unique. Across Jordan, Egypt, and even the Gulf states, the rising cost of essentials – driven by global energy prices and a weakening Jordanian dinar – is squeezing families. The war between Israel and Iran feels impossibly distant yet intimately connected, its consequence felt in the price of every loaf, every litre of fuel.
Local Perspective
There’s a weary resignation settling over people here. They’ve weathered so much – years of regional conflict, economic instability, the pandemic. This feels… different. The price of diesel is affecting everything. Transport costs are up, meaning food from farms is more expensive. Farmers themselves are struggling; fertilizer prices have soared. In Cairo, I spoke to a taxi driver, Ahmed, who’s working longer hours just to make the same amount of money. “I used to bring home enough to support my family comfortably,” he told me, “Now? It’s just about surviving.”
The IMF meetings in Bangkok, while thousands of miles away, are being discussed in hushed tones. There’s little faith that international bodies truly understand the daily struggle. People are angry about conditionality attached to loans – the demands for reforms that often translate to cuts in vital services. Here, it feels like the world is concerned with economic stability, while they are concerned with simply feeding their families.
The Bigger Picture
The current situation is a stark illustration of how profoundly interconnected the Israeli-Iranian dynamic is with global economic wellbeing. The threat to oil supplies, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz, has sent prices spiralling. This impacts not just the West, but countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are heavily reliant on affordable energy and food imports. The absence of key US officials from the Bangkok meetings signals a prioritization of domestic politics over addressing a deeply global crisis. The US’s deals with Russia to increase diesel supplies, while aiming to lower prices, are viewed with skepticism and raise further geopolitical concerns, particularly given the backdrop of the Ukraine war.
A Note of Hope
Despite the hardship, what strikes you is the resilience of people. Old Man Tariq continues to bake, determined to offer affordable bread to his community, even if it means his own profits dwindle. Small acts of solidarity, of neighbours helping neighbours, are common. These moments remind us that even in the midst of global crises and geopolitical tensions, the human spirit endures, and the search for a more stable, equitable future continues.
Source: Reuters report on IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok, 11 October 2026. ([https://www.reuters.com/business/middle-east-war-high-debt-levels-dominate-imf-world-bank-meetings-bangkok-2026-10-11/](https://www.reuters.com/business/middle-east-war-high-debt-levels-dominate-imf-world-bank-meetings-bangkok-2026-10-11/))
