Ration cards items tripled as of August: official

CAIRO – 1 August 2017: The Ministry of Supply decided Tuesday to increase number of commodities offered on the subsidies system from 20 to 66 items as of August 1.

Head of the Food Industries Holding Company Alaa Fahmy said in a statement that the 66 items include food and non-food products, in addition to basic subsidized commodities; sugar, rice and cooking oil.

The increase in available products comes to allow users to get subsidized products as per their desires, Fahmy said.

In late June, President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi announced the government will increase the subsidies on ration cards from LE 21 to LE 50 ($1.1 - $2.7) per individual, as part of a series of decisions that targets boosting the social safety net.

The decision would raise allocations of food subsidies in the fiscal year 2017/18 budget to LE 85 billion from LE 47 billion in FY16/2017.