Outlets offering discounted basic food commodities have been attracting many customers in an initiative led by the Armed Forces' civil service unit in cooperation with the Ministry of Supply that aims to fight escalating prices by providing consumers with cheaper goods, Doaa Abdel-Moneim reports. Manal Bayoumi, a Cairo housewife, said that food products in the outlets were available at much cheaper prices, enabling her to stock up on food to feed her family. “Our purchasing power has been negatively affected by the huge price increases,” Bayoumi said, explaining that the outlets had enabled her to buy enough food until next month. Rashad Abdel-Karim, an employee at the Ministry of Education, said the move provided cheaper alternatives to basic commodities and was a lifeline for middle-income citizens. “It saves us from the greed of retailers, as prices have reached unprecedented levels over the past three years,” he said. Abdel-Karim, a father of three, earns a monthly salary of LE1,200. “I have a hard time making ends meet,” he said, adding that this was the case for many Egyptian families. “I want to see the state exercising greater control over prices,” he said. Over 300 outlets around the country are offering the goods at an up to 30 per cent discount on regular prices. A kg of meat costs between LE35 and LE50, compared to LE80 to LE100 in butchers' shops. The same applies to other food items, from cooking oil to vegetables.
