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Egypt bread prices surge amid Ukraine war 

March 7, 2022 at 9:13 am

A bread seller walks in front of Al-Azhar Mosque in central Cairo on March 23, 2018 [FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images]

Egypt’s bread prices have increased 50 per cent over the past two days, a week after Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.

Local media yesterday reported that flour prices had jumped to 11,000 Egyptian pounds ($700) per tonne, up from 7,000 Egyptian pounds ($445). The rise was said to have caused anger among citizens.

Arabi21 quoted flour suppliers and bakery owners as saying that the surge had increased the “price of the small loaf of bread from 50 piasters to 75, and the large loaf from one pound to 1.5 pounds.”

“The flour prices’ increase has resulted in a similar rise in prices of all pastries, by 25 to 50 per cent,” they explained.

READ: Ukraine conflict could hit food supplies, worsening Yemen hunger crisis

In restaurants, locals noted, the prices of most traditional sandwiches had also increased by “around 25 per cent.”

Some 70 per cent of Egypt’s wheat supplies come from Russia and Ukraine.