No increase in subsidized bread price- Ministry

CAIRO – 5 July 2019: No increase expected in the prices of subsidized bread and basic commodities for the Egyptians following the fuel subsidy cut and its price hike, announced the Ministry of Supply and Interior Trade in a statement on Friday.

“The ministry [not the bakeries] will bear the difference [in cost] of the fuel price […] so that the bread price is fixed at 5 pennies for a loaf,” the Ministry said.

In the state’s general budget for 2018/2019, the government has allocated LE 60 billion for the whole system of subsidized bread, said Minister of Supply Ali Moselhy in remarks to media in March 2018. As per the subsidy system, the government should produce more than 11.4 billion loaves of bread monthly for about 76.4 million people who are eligible for the bread subsidy.

The Ministry of Finance announced early Friday the new prices as the commonly-consumed 92 octane gasoline price amounted to LE 8 instead of 6.75 per liter. Prices of gasoline 80's liter increased to LE 6.75 instead of LE 5.

The price of diesel will be LE 6.75 a liter instead of LE 5.5, while the price of the natural gas used for vehicles rose to LE 3.5 per cubic meter for cars instead of LE 2.75.

Meanwhile, government has announced raising the price of the cooking gas cylinder to LE 65 instead of LE 50 and the commercial gas cylinder's prices surged to LE 130 instead of LE 100.

The new pricing officially came into effect on July 5 at 9 AM, as per the government's decision.

Additional reporting by Hanan Mohamed and Medhat Wahba