Egypt To Review Ration Card Commodity Prices Quarterly
Egypt To Review Ration Card Commodity Prices Quarterly
(Bloomberg) -- Egypt will review the prices of commodities covered by the ration card system quarterly, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said in an interview Monday, as the government pushes ahead with efforts to overhaul the costly subsidy system.
Changes to the prices of commodities offered under a subsidy program that covers almost three-quarters of the country’s 100 million people will be based on the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and their price on the international market, El Moselhy said.
The announcement comes as the government is working on revamping the system in a bid to ensure the aid is channeled to the neediest segments of the population. The changes are part of a broader International Monetary Fund-backed program aimed at reviving the economy by boosting growth and cutting spending.
Officials have already largely lifted subsidies on fuel and electricity, and the government has linked some fuel product prices to Brent and the exchange rate. Those prices are also to be reviewed quarterly.
Critics of the efforts argue the program, launched in 2016 with the devaluation of the currency, has deepened poverty levels as inflation soared to over 30%. That figure has since dropped, with annual inflation slowing to its lowest level in over nine nears in October.
The government on Sunday announced cuts of as much as 11% in the prices of some commodities offered through the ration cards.
To contact the reporter on this story: Abdel Latif Wahba in Cairo at alatifwahba@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Tarek El-Tablawy, Paul Abelsky
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