No increase expected in subsidised bread prices – Egyptian ministry

No increase expected in the prices of subsidised bread and basic commodities for the Egyptians following the fuel subsidy cut and its price hike, announced the Ministry of Supply and Interior Trade in a statement on Friday.

“The ministry [not the bakeries] will bear the difference [in cost] of the fuel price […] so that the bread price is fixed at 5 pennies for a loaf,” the Ministry said.

In the state’s general budget for 2018/2019, the government has allocated 60 billion pounds for the whole system of subsidized bread, said Minister of Supply Ali Moselhy in remarks to media in March 2018. As per the subsidy system, the government should produce more than 11.4 billion loaves of bread monthly for about 76.4 million people who are eligible for the bread subsidy.

The Ministry of Finance announced early Friday the new prices as the commonly-consumed 92 octane gasoline price amounted to 8 pounds instead of 6.75 pounds per liter.

Prices of gasoline 80’s liter increased to 6.75 pounds instead of 5 pounds. The price of diesel will be 6.75 pounds a liter instead of 5.5 pounds, while the price of the natural gas used for vehicles rose to 3.5 pounds per cubic meter for cars instead of 2.75 pounds.

Meanwhile, government has announced raising the price of the cooking gas cylinder to 65 pounds instead of 50 pounds and the commercial gas cylinder’s prices surged to 130 pounds instead of 100 pounds.

The new pricing officially came into effect on July 5 at 9 AM, as per the government’s decision.

Source: Egypt Today