Egypt, the world’s largest wheat buyer, will stop subsidizing flour for its sweeping bread subsidy program next month in a move expected to cut wheat imports by up to 10 percent by curtailing smuggling, the supply ministry said on Wednesday. Austerity-hit Egyptians faced with inflation above 30 percent have increasingly turned to the state’s cheap subsidised bread to make ends meet, increasing the country’s food subsidy bill as well as its wheat imports. In the financial year to June 30, wheat imports reached 5.58 million tons, up from 4.4 million the preceding year. In an attempt to reduce waste, the state will next month stop subsidizing flour used by bakeries offering the cheap bread. He claimed that lower flour consumption would translate directly into reduced imports.

Source: Egypt Independent July 13, 2017 11:48 UTC