News

Egypt Announces Price Controls on Unsubsidised Bread to Combat Price Increases

mm
Egypt Announces Price Controls on Unsubsidised Bread to Combat Price Increases

Image Credit: Flickr

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi directed the government on Tuesday, 15 March to enforce price controls on unsubsidized bread nationwide in order to help curb the recent price surges, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

According to Rady, Al-Sisi instructed the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to supply bakeries with enough flour to mitigate any expected hikes in bread prices as well as entrusted the civilian police to ensure that price controls are enforced on the ground.

The directives were given by the President during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi, and Head of the General Intelligence Services Abbas Kamel.

As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the price of subsidized bread, which is highly dependent on imported wheat, has soared by nearly 50 percent over the past week.

The price of subsidized bread loaves, however, remains unchanged at five piasters.

There has been a global increase of wheat by 48 percent, cooking oil by 32 percent, corn by 30 percent, sugar by seven percent, frozen meat by 11 percent, poultry by 10 percent, and petroleum by 55 percent. However, the prices of wheat and cooking oil in Egypt have only increased by 17 and 10 percent, respectively, according to the Prime Minister’s remarks last week.

In a statement, the Head of the Bakeries Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, Attia Hamad, explained that the tonne of flour has risen to EGP 11,000 (USD 700 ) from EGP 9,000 (USD 570) in February.

Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in early April, which often sees an increased food consumption, the president has ordered the distribution of cartons of food supplies and low-cost food commodities.

The state has also taken measures to offer farmers additional incentives to encourage them to deliver the largest possible amount of wheat during the local wheat supply season in April.

Wheat Farmers Required to Supply Percentage of Yields to Local Authorities
UK Lifts Travel Restrictions to Egypt’s South Sinai and Fayoum

Subscribe to our newsletter


News
mm

Farah Rafik is a graduate from the American University in Cairo (AUC) with a dual degree in Multimedia Journalism and Political Science. After being an active participant in Model United Nation (MUN) conferences both locally and internationally, Farah discovered her love for writing. When she isn’t writing about Arts & Culture for Egyptian Streets, she is busy watching films and shows to review. Writing isn’t completed without a coffee or an iced matcha latte in hand—that she regularly spills. She occasionally challenges herself in reading challenges on Goodreads, and can easily read a book a day.

More in News

Egypt's Central Bank in Cairo courtesy of Reuters

Central Bank of Egypt Raises Key Interest Rates by 2%

Amina Zaineldine30 March 2023

Egypt’s Former Ministry of Interior to be Turned into a Hotel

Dina Khadr30 March 2023

Egypt Joins New Development Bank to Find Alternative Forms of Finance

Egyptian Streets30 March 2023

Egypt Introduces New Measures for Visas to Increase Tourism

Egyptian Streets29 March 2023

Egypt’s Public Prosecution Gives Temporary Custody to Baby Shenouda’s Adoptive Family

Farah Rafik29 March 2023

Egypt Defeats Malawi 4-0 in 2023 African Cup Qualifiers

Marina Makary28 March 2023

Egypt to Get Its Very Own Fashion Week For the First Time

Egyptian Streets26 March 2023

Egypt Defeats Malawi 2-0 in Qualifiers for Africa Cup of Nations

Farah Rafik25 March 2023