An Egyptian tendency to move the price of bread .. "It will take time"
The Egyptian Minister of Supply, Ali Al-Moselhi, said today, Thursday, that determining the new price for subsidized bread will take some time.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in August that it was time to increase the price of subsidized bread and to reconsider the issue for the first time since 1977, when then-President Anwar Sadat reversed his price increase after riots broke out.
The price of the subsidized loaf of bread since that time is five piasters ($0.0032).
Al-Moselhi said during a press conference in Cairo that the prices of commodities have risen since January, including edible oil, sugar, and recently wheat.
He said that the price of wheat determined by suppliers will take into account inflation, adding that Egypt's strategic reserves of wheat are sufficient for five months.
Al-Moselhi said that the price of a one-liter bottle of fortified edible oil will rise as of November 1, from 21 pounds to 25 pounds ($1.60).
Egypt, which imports 95 percent of its edible oil needs through the General Authority for Supply Commodities, is offering buyers a mixture of soybean and sunflower oil as part of its expanded subsidy programme.
This is the second increase this year after the rise in global prices, but Moselhi said that this decision is subject to adjustment if costs fall next year.
(dollar = 15.6600 pounds)
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