Egypt has fixed the price of bread sold outside the state’s subsidised food system as its currency has been in freefall against the US dollar since Monday.
The fixed prices will apply for three months, and retailers who do not comply could face a fine of no less than EGP 100,000 and no more than EGP 5m.
Bakeries are also obligated to inform buyers about the selling prices and different weights of bread.
Head of the Internal Trade Sector at the Ministry of Supply, Abdel Moneim Khalil, said on Monday that a ministerial campaign will be launched nationwide to inspect bakeries and control bread prices.
Under the new pricing system, the price of a 45-gram, flat loaf is EGP 0.50, and EGP 0.75 for a 65-gram loaf. The price of a 90-gram loaf was fixed at EGP 1. Packaged bread available in supermarkets and grocery stores is now priced at EGP 11.5 a kg.
The price fixing decision followed a rise in the price of free-market bread over the past three weeks, which retailers attribute to higher wheat and energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening to exponentially increase the prices of the world’s food supply, which were already at their highest level in years.
The two countries are among the world’s top wheat exporters, according to the Harvard Growth Lab’s Atlas of Economic Complexity, making up a combined 26% and 20% of global wheat and barley exports in 2019, respectively.
