PM OKs week-extension of Ahlan Ramadan exhibition

CAIRO – 27 May 2017: Prime Minister Sherif Ismail approved a one-week extension of Ahlan Ramadan exhibition after it witnessed an attendance of more than a million people in its first week, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Meselhi said.

The extension will start as of Sunday, the minister added in a Saturday statement.

The exhibition started on May 18 in about 122 places nationwide.

The Sudanese fresh meat was available at the exhibition at LE 80 ($4.4) per kilo, while large amounts of frozen meat were sold for LE 69 per kilo.

Food items like rice, oil, pasta, lentils, beans, dairy products and fish were available at Ahlan Ramadan at 20 percent less than their original prices.

Earlier in the month, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that Egypt’s headline inflation surged to 32.9 percent year-on-year in April, compared to 10.9 percent last year.

The Central Bank of Egypt decided on Sunday to hike its overnight deposit rate to 16.75 percent from 14.75 percent and its overnight lending rate to 17.75 from 15.75 percent.

This decision meets the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demands to surge the interest rates in order to tame the rising inflation.