He indicated that his tour today started from one of the farms that are related to agricultural processing, dairy products, and food products.
By: Business Today Staff
Mon, May. 27, 2024
Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, held a press conference after the inspection tour today in Beheira and Alexandria governorates.
The Prime Minister addressed the matter of bread subsidies, highlighting Egypt’s annual production of 100 billion loaves under this program. He added that the government sells each loaf for just 5 piasters, resulting in a total revenue of only EGP 5 billion for the state.
He indicated that his tour today started from one of the farms that are related to agricultural processing, dairy products, and food products.
Madbouly added that they explored ways to implement a new factory for the production of dried milk, as Egypt imports this product at more than 100 thousand tons annually.
During the conference, he added that Egypt will operate one of the largest factories to produce large central air conditioners by the end of 2025 in a cooperation with one of the largest foreign companies.
The Egyptian government's main concern is to ensure that the resources match the expenses over the next three years, Madbouly said.
Madbouly indicated that Egypt encourages the use of locally produced wheat, and motivates Egyptian farmers to supply wheat, to reduce the import bill and reduce pressure on the dollar.
The cost of supporting farmers during the past few years has reached EGP 40 billion, he added.
Moreover, Egypt provided more than EGP 100 billion to support bread.
The Prime Minister addressed the issue of fuel prices for electricity production, stating that over 60% of Egypt’s natural gas is used for power generation.
He mentioned that the cost of extracting natural gas is around $4.25 per unit, while the Ministry of Electricity purchases it from the state for power stations at $3 per unit.
According to the Prime Minister, next year’s support bill is projected to reach 636 billion pounds, marking a 20% increase compared to the current year ending on June 30, 2024.
The bill for the current year stood at EGP 530 billion, underscoring the evident rise in support measures.
Egypt will allocate EGP 155 billion to support petroleum products from the budget of 2025.
He directed the Ministers of Petroleum and Finance to begin paying 20 to 25% of the arrears of foreign partners starting next week.