Egyptians and successive governments agree since the Bread Riots of 70s that the subsidized bread is a major reason for the continuity of stable living in the country. This old relation between Egyptians and the bread might justify why the price of bread survived continuous government procedures.
One of the latest procedures was the decision to increase fuels prices which the bakeries depend on in producing around 275 million loaves of breads in all Egyptian provinces so that around 80 million Egyptians who have ration cards would benefit from them.
In Khatem El-Morsaleen street, Mokhtar Hamed who is his fifties was on his usual way to get his daily portion of bread loaves for his five-member family.
Hamed is used to walk to the bakery near his house but as a result of suffering from diabetes he had to take the auto rickshaw for a short distance. However, he was shocked that the fare has rose to EGP5.
Hamed told Asharq Al-Awsat that the fixation of the bread price at EGP5 is good to the majority of Egyptians whose meals contain bread but it can’t be the sole source for nutrition.
He added that he couldn’t know whether to feel happy that the bread price is fixed or to get angry that he is paying the difference and maybe more on transportation.
It is right that the latest reforms had tough impact on various sectors of services from the increase of water and electricity prices to the relapse of Egyptian pound against the dollar, but this didn’t raise the price of bread.
Egypt consume annually 14.6 million tons of wheat including 9.6 million for producing subsidized bread. The government announced that it purchased 3.4 million tons of domestic production since the beginning of the current season.
