The Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) issued a report on the increase in food prices from June 6 to 12, including meat, fish, cheese and milk. The report said that the prices of poultry, rice and oil have also decreased.
The Supply Ministry has developed mechanisms to adjust food prices, which have been rising due to the dollar exchange rate crisis, the Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafi told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday.
Short-term solutions include making deals with wholesalers to procure large amounts of foodstuffs that will then be retailed to consumers at competitive prices, the minister said.
The ministry will agree as well with commercial chains to fix the prices of 30 food commodities until the end of 2016, Hanafi said.
Meat and poultry will be provided at the ministry-affiliated Consumer Complexes at prices lower than the domestic market prices by 25-30 percent, according to Hanafi.
Hanafi pointed out that an Indian rice shipment will arrive in Egypt in the next few days, thereby helping to reduce the price of rice for consumers.
With regard to long-term solutions, the minister said it plans to develop consumer complexes and food packing centers in order to strike a balance between the public and private sectors.
Hanafi said the Supply Ministry plans to establish 14,000 food commodity outlets over the next two years.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
