The Egyptian Cabinet issued a statement denying news published online regarding the supposed issuance of a decision to raise the price of subsidized bread, starting next month.
The Media Center of the Cabinet said that it had contacted the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, which denied these reports and called them baseless.
The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade added that despite the media center denying this rumor several times, it was noticed that it continues to spread.
It said that no decisions have been issued in this matter and assured the continuation of the system of disbursing subsidized loaves of bread to citizens on ration cards of only five piasters without any increases.
The system currently serves 71 million citizens.
The ministry added that the state bears the difference in production costs, and launches periodic monitoring campaigns on all bakeries, to ensure that the subsidized bread conforms to all quality standards, with the application of penalties and fines on violators.
Bread serves as a pillar of Egypt
Bread was one of the three main demands – along with freedom and social justice – that Egyptian protesters chanted during the January 25 Revolution in 2011.
According to official estimates, Egyptians consume daily between 250 million and 275 million subsidized loaves of local bread.
Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, which mainly goes to the production of bread.
The bread subsidy bill rose in the current fiscal year’s budget to about LE 93 billion after bread subsidies increased by more than LE 55 billion following the rise in global wheat prices.
