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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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Oil Prices Flat as Investors Await US Inventory Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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Oil Prices Flat as Investors Await US Inventory Data

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices traded flat on Thursday as investors eye developments in the Middle East and more details on China's stimulus plans, and await the release of official US oil inventory data.
Brent crude futures were down 4 cents to $74.18 a barrel by 0648 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $70.37 a barrel, down 2 cents.
Both benchmarks settled down on Wednesday, closing at their lowest levels since Oct. 2 for a second day in a row, said Reuters.
The benchmarks are down 6-7% so far this week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency cut demand forecasts for 2024 and 2025.
Prices have also fallen as risk premiums have cooled with fears having eased that a retaliatory attack by Israel on Iran could disrupt oil supplies, though uncertainty remains over conflict in the Middle East.
"We are now playing a waiting game for two things. Firstly, the China NPC (National People's Congress) standing committee to flesh out the details and the size of the fiscal stimulus package which I believe is coming," Tony Sycamore, IG market analyst in Sydney, said.
Investors are waiting for further details from Beijing on its broad plans announced on Oct. 12 to revive its ailing economy.
China said on Thursday it would expand a "white list" of housing projects eligible for financing and increase bank lending for such developments to 4 trillion yuan ($562 billion) as it aims to shore up its ailing property market.
Sycamore said Israel's response to Iran's recent attack was the second major focus for the market.
"It's coming, we know that but we don't know when," he said, adding that both factors created upside risks for crude oil prices.
In Iran, the authorities are working to control an oil spill off Kharg Island, the country's IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.
"It appears to be unrelated to the Israel-Hamas war, but it drew attention to Iran's oil export facilities," ANZ analysts said in a note.
In the US, crude oil and fuel stocks fell last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday, against expectations of a build-up in crude stockpiles.
Crude stocks fell by 1.58 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories fell by 5.93 million barrels, and distillate stocks fell by 2.67 million barrels, they said.
Ten analysts polled by Reuters had estimated on average that crude inventories rose by about 1.8 million barrels in the week to Oct. 11.
"Any signs of weak demand in EIA's weekly inventory report could put further downward pressure on oil prices," ANZ analysts said.
The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy, will release its data at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday.
Also supporting oil prices, the European Central Bank is likely to lower interest rates again on Thursday, the first back-to-back rate cut in 13 years, as it shifts focus from cooling inflation in the euro zone to protecting economic growth.