‘Mismanagement’ triggers goods crisis in Egypt: Commerce Chambers chief

Egypt has no sugar shortage; yet we are facing a “mismanagement and misdistribution issue”, said Head of Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) on Saturday.

Speaking to Amwal Al Ghad, Ahmed El-Wakeel stated that private sector has around 600,000 tonnes of sugar that are sufficient until the end of next December in addition to a strategic reserve of 189,000 tonnes.

He added that the set-to-be imported sugar would boost the reserve until February 2017.

El-Wakeel pointed out that around 4,000 tonnes of sugar are being injected into the local market while its total needs are estimated at 9,000 tonnes.

The chairman stated that sugar consumption rate reached around 279,000 tonnes monthly.

The public sector is the sole importer of sugar, since the private sector stopped importing sugar following a decree to raise custom fees by 20 percent in 2015, the Egyptian official added.