The Egyptian government is seeking to overcome the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which contributed to a significant rise in inflation rates. High Egyptian officials said that their country “is making great efforts to control prices, noting that “inflation rates have risen dramatically in European and Western countries, as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, even though they are rich countries.”
According to recent data from the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, consumer price inflation in cities rose to 13.5 percent in May, its highest level since March 2019. The acceleration of inflation comes against the backdrop of rising commodity and fuel prices around the world. While Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, it was severely affected by the increase in its global price due to the war in Ukraine. In an effort to increase production rates and control prices, Egyptian government inaugurated recently a complex for animal and dairy production in Sadat City in Menoufia. The complex, which has a capacity of 5,000 milking heads and a production capacity of 5.1 tons of meat, and about 3,000 fattening heads on an area of 1,000 acres, aims to “develop livestock to meet the needs of citizens, as well as provide job opportunities,” according to its sponsors.
The measures taken by the Egyptian government over the past years have contributed to "raising the growth rates of animal production", according to the same officials, who stressed “the importance of increasing production rates in various fields to achieve self-sufficiency and export the surplus,” stressing the importance of exploiting the largest area of land to control production costs, taking into consideration population growth in Egypt and high prices globally.
They pointed out that prices in Egypt “should have been much higher than their current rates,” and that “a huge jump in production costs would have occurred if we dealt with energy prices according to international rates,” but stressed “the state’s keenness on the stability of fuel and energy prices, and that it has postponed a scheduled increase in electricity prices several times to relieve citizens.”
They added said that the country is seeking to reclaim the largest area of land to control the cost of production and control prices, noting that the population of Egypt has increased by about 15 million people during the past seven or eight years. On the other hand, they called for the participation of the private sector in the field of animal production because of its work mechanisms and capabilities that exceed those of the government.
In addition, Egyptian representatives cited the high inflation rates in European and Western countries, saying: “Although the European Union standards stipulate that the inflation rate does no t exceed 2 percent, these rates have risen today to range between 6 percent, 9 percent, or 11 percent in those countries despite they are rich countries with stable administrative systems, food chains, pricing and governance and do not have such an important factor as growing population.” They added that “inflation rates have risen in Western countries that have not seen a population increase in nearly 40 years.
They also explained that a liter of gasoline in Western countries amounted to about two dollars (equivalent to about 40 pounds), stressing that the state has taken measures to control prices and markets and increase the supply of goods and products to prevent traders from exploiting the current conditions. They continued by stating that "the price of a barrel of oil is currently at $120 a barrel, and the prices of gas that is used to operate power stations have quadrupled, noting that the cost of the gas unit rose to a rate ranging between $20-21, compared to an average of between 3- 5 dollars", stressing that the measures taken by the Egyptian state to control prices and relieve burdens on low-income citizens are the most that can be done in light of the current circumstances and the rise in energy prices globally.