Egypt slams 'greedy merchants' amid rise in wheat prices

The Egyptian government yesterday criticised what it described as “greedy merchants” after a recent rise in wheat prices.

Local media launched intensified campaigns calling on Egyptians to reduce their daily consumption of bread and wheat products amid stock shortages after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Bloomberg quoted sources as saying yesterday that the government was boosting wheat stocks and intensifying its calls for citizens on rationalising consumption in an attempt “to mitigate the impact of the crisis.”

The sources added that the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that the  government had raised its target share of buying local wheat to about 5.5 million tonnes, noting that citizens must “still rationalise their consumption.”

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“The government wheat supplies are stable and we have enough supplies to continue providing subsidised bread,” Madbouly  pointed out, stressing that the country did not need any “additional shipments at the moment.”

The Egyptian premier warned “greedy merchants” of “stocking and hiding goods.”

Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer and relied on Russia and Ukraine for some 80 per cent of its supplies.