CAIRO: Egypt's supplies minister on Monday lowered the target for state purchases of domestic wheat from the current harvest, suggesting the world's largest wheat importer will not cut its food import bill in the coming fiscal year.
Khaled Hanafi told reporters the total amount of wheat the government will purchase was "expected to reach 3.8 or 3.9 million tonnes by the end of the current season." The previous government target was 4.4 million tonnes.
Like energy subsidies, bread subsidies that provide a low-cost good to millions of poor Egyptians is rooted in a corrupt and wasteful system that drains state coffers.
The lowered target is on par with the amount of wheat Egypt purchased from its farmers during the past two harvest seasons.
The government is striving to boost self sufficiency and cut its 32 billion Egyptian pound ($4.48 billion) food import bill.
But at most, the government will be able to increase domestic supply by around 1 million tonnes a year through storage and transport.
The state is unlikely to get much more wheat from farmers who need to reserve the rest for seed and to feed their families.
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