June 25, 2012

Egypt raises local wheat purchase price by US$166 million

Egypt has further given support to domestic wheat purchases with the allotment of another EGP1 billion (US$166 million) and an additional US$100 million for fuel, Finance Minister Momtaz el-Saieed stated.

The funds for fuel raised to US$4.65 billion the amount given to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., el-Saieed said. He didn't say over what period the funding had been provided. The ministry had allocated about 8.5 billion pounds for local wheat purchases through June 21, he said.

The ministry also took "urgent measure" to ensure other commodities are available, according to the statement.

While the government had budgeted 40 billion pounds for fuel subsidies from December through May, the actual outlay amounted to 59 billion pounds, Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri told journalists last month.