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Egypt’s New Price for Bread Will ‘Take Time’, Supply Minister Says

A baker collects loaves at a bakery in Cairo, Egypt, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib
A baker collects loaves at a bakery in Cairo, Egypt, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib
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Egypt’s New Price for Bread Will ‘Take Time’, Supply Minister Says

A baker collects loaves at a bakery in Cairo, Egypt, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib
A baker collects loaves at a bakery in Cairo, Egypt, August 6, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib

Egypt's Supply Minister Ali Moselhy said on Thursday deciding a new price for subsidized bread "will take time".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in August said it was time to increase the price of the country's subsidized bread, revisiting the issue for the first time since 1977 when then-President Anwar Sadat reversed a price rise in the face of riots.

The subsidised loaf has been sold since then for 5 Egyptian piasters ($0.0032), Reuters reported.

"The prices of commodities have been increasing since January, across vegetable oils markets, sugar and lately wheat," Moselhy told a news conference in Cairo.

"The wheat price set by suppliers will take into account inflation," he said, adding that the strategic reserves of the world's largest wheat buyer were sufficient for five months.

Moselhy also said that from Nov. 1 the price of a 1 liter bottle of subsidized vegetable oil would increase to 25 Egyptian pounds ($1.60) from 21 pounds per bottle.

Egypt, which imports 95% of its vegetable oil needs through state buyer GASC, offers buyers a blend of soybean and sunflower oil covered by its extensive subsidy program.

The increase is the second one this year on the back of increasing global prices, but Moselhy said that this decision could be revised if costs drop in the coming year.

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UK Treasury Chief Heading to China to Revive Suspended Economic, Financial Talks

FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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UK Treasury Chief Heading to China to Revive Suspended Economic, Financial Talks

FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaks to the media after a tour of Maidstone Hospital on December 10, 2024 in Maidstone, Britain. Dan Kitwood/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Britain's Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the UK's Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing.
The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Reuters reported.
Reeves' trip is expected to revive the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years.
A series of spying allegations from both sides, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony, have soured ties.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the UK Financial Conduct Authority's chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, are also in the delegation, according to the Treasury. Representatives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms will join the trip.
Officials did not provide details, but media reports have said senior executives from HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were included.
Reeves' visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November.
The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the UK's fifth-largest trading partner.
Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy.
But some in the opposition Conservative Party have criticized his stance and said trade ties should not come at the expense of national security and human rights concerns.
British political leaders and intelligence chiefs have warned repeatedly of the security threats that China poses. Calls to tackle the challenge grew louder last month when it emerged that an alleged Chinese spy had cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China's ruling Communist Party, according to officials.
Nevertheless, Lammy told reporters in London on Thursday that “there are many areas of trade that don’t impact on national security.”
He said Reeves “will repeat many of the messages that I took to China.”
“What we’ve said is in this complex relationship with a global superpower, we are guided by three Cs”: challenge, compete and cooperate, for example in areas including health and climate challenges, Lammy added.