The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has allocated $1.8 billion to ensure six months of reserves in all strategic goods, Supply Minister Mohamed Ali El-Sheikh said on Wednesday, after widespread sugar shortages prompted talk of an impending food crisis.
Egypt already has five months worth of wheat and vegetable oil reserves and would ensure that Egyptians receive a steady supply of essential foods, Sheikh said at a news conference.
The $1.8 billion has already been allocated and the supply effort would be made in coordination with the armed forces, said Sheikh, a military major general who took charge in September of a ministry rocked by a wheat corruption scandal.
Sheikh said his ministry would seek to end procurement of wheat to open air silos by next year’s buying season and move to more sophisticated climate-controlled silos that are designed to minimize waste and prevent fraud.
