The Supply Ministry has said it is ready to confront widely-speculated price hikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in mid-June.
Minister Khaled Hanafy said the ministry will ensure food is available in the markets leading up to the month which traditionally witnesses exceptional consumer turnout.
According to Hanafy, consumer cooperatives have started to operate mobile refrigerators providing food at rates of up to 25 percent lower than usual.
Salwa al-Antary, a former research chief at the National Bank of Egypt, predicted a fresh price surge with the advent of the holy month, attributing her speculation to what she called “soaring consumption and monopolists’ control over the market”.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) have said that the cost of vegetables surge on an annual basis to 21.2 percent, with fruits also moving up by 14.1 percent.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
