Egypt is a case in point of just how the minimum wage has returned to the forefront of politics after years of neglect. Set at EGP 35 (about USD 6.5) per month since 1984, minimum wages eventually lost all relevance (Abdelhamid and El Baradei, 2009). As they remained fixed in nominal terms, they were eroded, dropping below 1% of GDP per capita by 2007.