The government signed contracts to acquire 800,000 calves to provide fresh meat at a price of EGP 50 per kg, to adjust the price of meat in the market, according to Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy.
The minister said on Monday, following a meeting with the committee for price adjustment headed by the Prime Minister Sherif Ismail that the government will adjust the prices of 10 basic commodities, including meat, poultry, fish, oil, sugar, rice, beans, corn, soybean, and wheat.
He said the government will provide food commodities at 1,321 sales points across 25 governorates, in addition to 101 mobile points.
The committee has been meeting on a regular basis to pen a plan to adjust the market price using the ministry’s tools, according to the rules and market mechanisms, in collaboration with all stakeholders in the country.
The minister noted that the inventory of existing strategic goods, as well as those contracted for, has been identified. He added that the government will focus on the lowest-income villages across the state, which are 1,039 villages in 19 governorates.
Hanafy praised the results of the ‘build your own meal’ campaign that aimed to provide the necessary demands for low-income citizens, where the meal is enough for four people and costs EGP 30. He added that the campaign will expand to all outlets of the ministry by the end of this month.
“The state will return to its role as the main player within the market through its subsidiary bodies, to provide basic commodities at affordable prices by facing any increases by traders,” Hanafy said.
He explained that the state is a negotiator and a contractor for many goods to be presented in 5,333 various distribution outlets nationwide, in addition to the ministry’s authorised traders to ensure good prices for the benefit of the citizen.
Short-term plans are being penned in parallel with other medium-term plans to provide basic commodities to citizens at affordable prices, according to the minister. He noted that a logistics zone was opened at Obour market for sorting and packaging fruit and vegetables to be provided at consumer complexes. He added that the ministry plans to establish more logistics and trading zones in different governorates.
The ministry has also identified a variety of vegetables, and studied their quantities and flow to the market in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture to determine the agricultural map and harvest seasons, while monitoring the timelines for price hikes.
In addition, the minister said a mechanism to provide the state’s outlets with specific quantities of these goods has been developed to avoid unjustified price increases. He added that the ministry has developed a plan to coordinate with private meat suppliers to provide specified quantities of meat to adjust the market price.
