Egypt spends EGP 86bn annually on commodity, bread subsidies

The Egyptian government offers subsidies worth 86 billion Egyptian pounds for commodities and food subsidies each year, the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Ali El-Moselhy, revealed.

The General Authority For Supply Commodities has disbursed 245 million pounds in dues to ration shops and Gameaty outlets for the value of subsidised commodities, the minister added.

Social policy in Egypt includes a food subsidy and a Social Assistance (SA) programme. The food subsidy system includes two main subsystems: a ration card (RC) which offer RC holders specific quotas of subsidized commodities (sugar, oil, rice, and tea), and subsidized Balady Bread (BB), which is distributed through market outlets on a first come, first served basis.