Egyptian Prime Minister Calls for Cautious Spending Amidst a Global Food Crisis
Amid the global food crisis, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has urged Egyptians to rationalize their consumption in order to reduce the country’s foreign currency strain. In a press conference, PM Madbouly stated that the Government of Egypt is reviewing its policies ahead of Eid El-Adha, which is on July 9, in order to combat the global food crisis and stabilize meat prices in particular. According to Al Ahram, this plan of rationalization will allow the state to meet all needs while maintaining commodity reserves unaffected.
Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Al-Moselhy confirmed the existence of strategic stocks of basic commodities in a cabinet meeting earlier this week, noting that the available reserves of oil, wheat, and sugar will be sufficient for the next six months.
Egypt is also in talks with a number of wheat-exporting countries to augment its wheat stock, according to Moselhi, who did not name the countries. Egypt, which used to rely on Russia and Ukraine for 80 percent of its imported wheat, has attempted to diversify its wheat import sources in recent months as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This includes India, Bulgaria, and Romania, among others according to Al Ahram. People tend to buy big quantities of meat or sacrificial animals for slaughter when Eid Al-Adha approaches. According to Moselhi, the state has contracted to purchase huge amounts of animals in order to ensure that citizens have access to meat.
Egypt has also released a new government law aimed at regulating the trading and selling of locally obtained wheat supply in order to alleviate the problem according to Egyptian Streets. In light of this new law, all registered wheat growers must provide local authorities with around 60% of their yields per feddan.
