Egypt’s wheat reserves sufficient for 3.2 months

CAIRO – 15 March 2018: Egyptian Minister of Supply Ali al-Muselhi said Thursday that Egypt's strategic wheat reserves are sufficient for 3.2 months, according to an official statement.

Muselhi added that the wheat reserves are sufficient to produce subsidized bread, with a production rate of 250 million loaves per day.

The statement pointed out that the balance of domestic rice market is 7 months.

Strategic rice reserves are sufficient for more than 4.4 months while reserves and contracts of edible oil are enough for 4.7 months, according to the statement.

The minister said that the availability of commodities in the market contributed in the decline of inflation to 14.3 percent during February 2018, compared to 31.7 percent in February 2017.

Last year Egypt procured about 3.6 million tons of wheat under the new pricing scheme.
The ministry said consumption of wheat used for its bread subsidy program stands at about 9 million tons per year.