CAIRO, Apr 19 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, announced yesterday that, an agreement had been reached, to reduce the prices of basic commodities in the country by up to 30 percent.
“In the period before the Eid Al-Fitr holiday (earlier this month), it was agreed with the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce that, the price reductions should be between 15 and 20 percent, and would continue to reach about 30 percent,” the Egyptian prime minister told a press conference, following a meeting with concerned officials and private sector representatives.
He noted that, the prices of commodities in general, have already been declining by about 22 percent, and those of basic commodities by up to 27 percent.
Madbouly announced, prices of unsubsidised bread are expected to decline on Sunday, given the decline of flour prices globally, and the recent stability of the U.S. dollar exchange rate.
Over the past two years, the dollar shortage in Egypt has led to the devaluation of the local currency and the rise of the parallel market in the country, causing high inflation and plunging the country into one of its worst economic crises.
The crisis deepened after the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in Oct last year, impacting Egypt’s tourism sector and halving its revenues from the Suez Canal.
However, Egypt has recently seen a large foreign cash influx, after it signed in late Feb, a 35-billion-dollar investment deal with the United Arab Emirates, to develop a new resort city, Ras Al-Hekma, on Egypt’s northern coast.
Later, in March, the World Bank announced more than six billion dollars “to support Egypt’s development and reform efforts,” while the European Union said, it would provide a financial package of 7.4 billion euros (about 7.88 billion dollars) to bolster the Egyptian economy.
Also in March, the International Monetary Fund approved an additional five-billion-dollar funding to Egypt, besides the three-billion-dollar, 46-month funding, approved in late 2022, to support the country’s reforms.– NNN-MENA