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Egypt Shrinks Subsidized Bread Loaf by 20 gms, Revises Cost of Flour

Egyptians buy bread from a street bakery in Cairo. (Reuters)
Egyptians buy bread from a street bakery in Cairo. (Reuters)
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Egypt Shrinks Subsidized Bread Loaf by 20 gms, Revises Cost of Flour

Egyptians buy bread from a street bakery in Cairo. (Reuters)
Egyptians buy bread from a street bakery in Cairo. (Reuters)

Egypt will shrink the size of its subsidized loaf of bread by 20 grams, a document seen by Reuters showed on Monday, allowing bakers to make more fixed price loaves from the standard 100-kg sack of flour.

Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, offers bread to more than 60 million people as part of a sprawling food subsidy program. Changes to food support are highly sensitive in Egypt, where a decision to cut bread subsidies led to deadly riots across the country in 1977.

The new weight of the loaf of bread will be 90 grams and each sack of flour shall yield 1,450 loaves effective Aug 18, the document showed.

A bakery owner in Cairo who chose to remain anonymous told Reuters that the change in the loaf would be noticeable to consumers.

“Due to many demands received by the ministry of supply from general bakers divisions across the country, we agreed to recalculate the cost of each sack of flour... (to account for) increases in gas and diesel fuel prices... and to add an insurance cost for bakery workers to be borne by the ministry,” Ahmed Kamal, the supply ministry’s spokesman, told Reuters.

The revised cost of the ministry’s standard sack of flour will now be 265 Egyptian pounds ($16.68) up from 213 Egyptian pounds ($13.40).

Subsidized bread would still cost 0.05 Egyptian pounds ($0.0031) and each individual would be allocated five loaves on the subsidy program, Kamal added.

“The ministry will tighten supervision on all bakeries to make sure the designated specifications, quality and weights necessary for the production of subsidized loaf (are followed, in addition to) the application of penalties and fines against violators.”

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‘Middle East Green Initiative’ Aims to Launch Projects in Multiple Countries by 2025

A group photo of participants at the Jeddah meeting, which approved the membership of 10 countries (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of participants at the Jeddah meeting, which approved the membership of 10 countries (Ministry of Environment)
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‘Middle East Green Initiative’ Aims to Launch Projects in Multiple Countries by 2025

A group photo of participants at the Jeddah meeting, which approved the membership of 10 countries (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of participants at the Jeddah meeting, which approved the membership of 10 countries (Ministry of Environment)

Dr. Osama Faqih, head of the executive committee for the “Middle East Green Initiative,” announced plans to launch several qualifying projects in member countries by the end of 2025.

He also stated that the initiative will establish a secretariat and outlined specific criteria for selecting the Secretary-General, who will be approved by the executive committee and the ministerial council.

Faqih outlined the implementation phases of the initiative, starting with a founding team of 16 regional countries and an executive committee of 20 founding states. This committee will establish the governance for the initiative, as projects will be based in member countries.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Faqih explained that funding will come from regional and international countries, the private sector, and various financial institutions, according to the initiative’s charter.

He noted that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a donation during the second summit of the Middle East Initiative in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, held alongside the Climate Conference. The secretariat will be located in Riyadh.

Membership in the initiative is divided into two categories: regional countries, which include Central and Southwestern Asia, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa, can host projects and contribute to achieving the initiative's goals. Non-regional countries can also join to support financial and technical funding.

The initiative prioritizes land rehabilitation, with Faqih highlighting the global challenges of land degradation and desertification.

He noted that over 99% of the world’s calories and about 95% of food come from land, making these issues critical for food security. The initiative aims to rehabilitate 200 million hectares of land in member countries, providing significant environmental, economic, and social benefits, such as carbon storage, vegetation growth, food security, and social welfare.

Faqih’s comments followed the first session of the ministerial council for the “Middle East Green Initiative,” held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The council welcomed ten regional countries and one non-regional country, the United Kingdom, as an observer.

They also set ambitious national policies and targets for vegetation development, agreeing on a governance structure that includes 32 elements covering the organizational framework, secretariat, project types, submission mechanisms, evaluation criteria, and funding processes.

Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Abdulrahman Al-Fadley, who chaired the session, emphasized the need for regional cooperation to enhance vegetation development and address environmental challenges, particularly desertification and limited greenery in the region.

He indicated that the meeting marks a shift to the implementation phase, urging all member countries, both regional and non-regional, to join and actively participate in the initiative and its trust fund.