Ahram Online, by Nada Nader (Link: PM Madbouly urges public to rationalise consumption amid global food crisis)
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly urges Egyptians to rationalise their consumption amid the global food crisis to ease the foreign currency burden on the state, yet he affirms the availability of basic commodities.
Madbouly’s remarks came during a press conference on Wednesday to review state's preparations ahead of Eid El-Adha, slated for July 9.
Egypt is exerting its utmost effort to deal with the current global crisis, which is the worst in the world over the past 100 years, Madbouly stated.
He added that rationalised consumption will enable the state to provide all needs and keep commodity reserves unaffected.
In a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Moselhi affirmed the availability of strategic reserves of the basic commodities, adding that the available reserves of oil, wheat, and sugar will be sufficient for the coming six months.
Egypt is also negotiating to sign agreements with multiple wheat-exporting countries to increase its wheat stock, Moselhi said without naming the countries.
Over the past few months, Egypt, which used to rely on Russia and Ukraine for 80 percent of its imported wheat, has worked on diversifying its wheat import sources due to the Russia-Ukraine war. This includes countries such as India, Bulgaria, and Romania.
With Eid Al-Adha approaching, people tend to buy large quantities of meat or sacrificial animals for slaughter. Moselhi said that the state has contracted to purchase large numbers of livestock to secure meat for citizens.
In this regard, Madbouly urged the increase of contracted amounts of livestock in order to keep prices unchanged during the Eid.
On Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that the state is capable of controlling prices until the end of the year amid the current global crisis.
In a meeting with journalists, El-Sisi noted that he has never talked about the consumption rate of commodities, but said: “I think minimal spending would help us.”
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