A total of 10 million ineligible citizens have been removed from the bread subsidies system in Egypt, according to Ali Meselhi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade. The filtered names are equivalent to EGP 5bn of subsidies, and were removed after the ministry discovered forged ration cards and repeated names.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Meselhi said the ministry has established an accurate database of citizens who are eligible for bread subsidies.
He added that the ministry removed the names with incorrect National ID or forged ration cards.
Meselhi also said that over 70 million citizens (or 70% of the population) are still benefiting from bread subsidies.
Bread subsidies cost the state EGP 53bn, with bread an important item for food security in Egypt. The minister said that roughly 700,000 families who had previously been removed by the ministry were then reintroduced into the system after taking into account the criteria for eligible citizens.
In the meantime, Meselhi revealed that between 250 to 270 million bread loaves are being produced daily, with an overall average of 3.5 loaves per person.
