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A worker carries trays of bread to be baked in an oven at a bakery in Cairo March 17, 2013. The spectre of steep food price inflation driven by a weaker pound is of particular worry to Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi as he grapples with spasms of unrest two years after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and was itself partly driven by a sense of mounting economic hardship in a country long steeped in poverty. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS FOOD) - RTR3F45A
CAIRO: Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) has signed a $700 million loan agreement with the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) to bolster its food security efforts, an Egyptian cabinet statement showed on Tuesday.
The loan from is part of ongoing cooperation between Egypt and the Saudi organisation, which has played a key role in helping Egypt to secure staple foods such as wheat as well as energy supplies.
ITFC has also earmarked an $800 million loan for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to support the country’s energy needs.
However, GASC’s precise role remains unclear since the government’s decision last year to transfer strategic wheat procurement responsibilities to Mostakbal Misr, a state entity established in 2022.
The shift in responsibilities has raised concerns among market observers.
One of the world’s largest wheat importers, Egypt relies heavily on foreign grain to sustain its subsidised bread programme, which serves 70 million people.
Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves have dwindled to enough for only four months, down from seven months of stock in mid-2024. (Reporting by Mohamed Ezz Editing by David Goodman)
