Some Egyptian government sources revealed that the Prime Minister, Mustapha Madbouli, is expected to announce the cut of subsidies on bread, which is an essential daily food for Egyptians, in response to the IMF demands under the $ 12 billion loan agreement.
According to “The New Arab" website, the new plan prepared by the Ministry of Supply to restructure the bread subsidy system, requires the allocation of only three loaves of bread for the subsidy card holders of low-income, with 5 piasters per loaf per day, instead of 5 loaves in the current system in force. In case for taking an additional one, citizens are required to pay between 55 piasters and 60 piasters (the pound is 100 piasters).
According to the media website, the audit committees of the IMF agreed to that plan, which will reduce the amount of support on the loaf by 25% and 30%.
According to official data issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance, the number of beneficiaries of the loaf and flour subsidies reached 78.6 million, of which 73.6 million benefit from subsidizing bread loaf of 5 loaves per citizen per day, and 5 million individuals benefit from the flour warehouse subsidies of 10 kg per citizen per month.
In November 2016, Egypt reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on an economic program, through which it can get a loan that would be disbursed in several instalments, which requires: the liberalization of the exchange rate, the gradual abolition of fuel subsidies, the increase in taxes, and the reduction in the number of workers in the state’s administration.
Over the past four years, especially after the agreement with the IMF, the Egyptians suffer from high prices, high rates of poverty and domestic and foreign debts, according to the official data from the Central Bank and the government's statistics authority.
#International_Monetary_Fund #IMF #Egypt #bread #subsidy
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