Cairo, Mar 04: Egypt`s cabinet decided today to subsidize key food commodities after rising prices made them too expensive for the people, Egypt`s Information Minister said. Safwat el-Sherif said the government needed to intervene to stop the rising prices of commodities such as bread, rice, food-oils, utter, fava beans, lentils, pasta and tea. ``The cabinet outlined the basic commodities where the government needs to intervene to make them accessible to the Egyptian people,`` he told reporters after the cabinet meeting. Since the flotation of the Egyptian pound last January and its subsequent devaluation, food prices have risen in Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, sparking demonstrations against the hardship that has resulted. Sherif said the government would subsidize the goods either by providing direct monetary support to Egyptian families, directly subsidizing the goods, or through using state companies to buy more goods. Egypt`s state-owned general authority for supply commodities (GASC) is one of the world`s largest wheat importers. Sherif said the proposals would be implemented within a few days and would cost the government between 2.5 and three billion Egyptian pounds (403-484 million dollars) every year.
Bureau Report