Egypt’s Cabinet Denies Reuters Report about Delaying Wheat Payments

The Egyptian cabinet denied a Reuters report claiming that Egypt is delaying opening letters of credit for wheat purchases to ease foreign currency pressures.

“The cabinet’s media center has contacted the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, which denied this news […] the information circulated by the report is false, and has no connection to reality,” the cabinet’s media center said in a 9 June statement published on Facebook.

The cabinet explained that websites and social media pages circulated a report published by “an international institution” claiming that Egypt is failing to make timely payments for wheat imports.

Reuters had published such a report on 25 May, claiming that the state grain buyer was “phasing” wheat payments by deferring the opening of letters of credit sent by banks to guarantee timely payment.

The piece cited anonymous traders in Egypt and even supply and internal trade minister Aly Moselhy himself, who is quoted to have said that Egypt is “phasing” payments on wheat. Egyptian Streets covered the report on 27 May.

The ministry said that it emphasizes that Egypt fulfills all its wheat payment commitments on time, without delay or rescheduling.

Rumors or misinformation can be reported via Whatsapp to those numbers (01155508688 -01155508851) or through this email ([email protected]), according to the statement.