ABU DHABI: Egypt's supplies ministry said on Monday it had signed a deal with the chamber of grain industries paving the way for state grain buyer GASC to supply imported wheat to the private sector as part of a drive to keep prices down.
A statement by the ministry said the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) would provide flour producers with imported wheat.
Under the protocol, the chamber of grain industries will receive requests from flour producers for wheat and present them to GASC at the beginning of each month and then GASC will determine the prices of the wheat and whether they will be delivered directly from the port or from the various wheat silos inside the country.
The protocol is in line with a strategy to lower domestic prices of commodities for Egyptians, the statement said.
The ministry said last week that GASC had been given a mandate to import a wider array of subsidised commodities to keep prices down.
GASC imports wheat on behalf of the state in public tenders to make subsidised 'baladi' bread that uses 82 percent extraction flour, but the new protocol means it will also provide wheat for flour mills that produce 72 percent extraction flour for other kinds of bread.
Egypt, one of the world's largest wheat importers, also announced on Thursday it would change the way it subsidises its wheat growers.
Instead of setting a local procurement price for Egyptian wheat above global prices to encourage farmers to grow the crop, it will buy local wheat from farmers at an average global price starting next season.
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