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Egyptian consumers bitten by rising fish and meat prices Household budgets take a further hit as state data shows poultry, beef and fish prices all rise by over 10 per cent month-on-month
Egyptians are facing steadily rising prices for meat and fish, figures published by the country's statistics agency on Monday show. Poultry prices rose an average of 10.5 per cent between February and March to reach LE19 ($2.80) per kilo, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said. The cost of fresh fish also climbed 13.5 per cent month-on-month to reach LE16.7 ($2.8) per kilo in March. Meat-lovers are also having to stomach spiralling prices caused by an Egyptian outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) which has the potential to affect all cloven-hoofed animals, including sheep, goats and cattle. The disease helped drive the price of beef and buffalo meat to LE62 ($10.3) per kilo in March, a year-on-year rise of 11.3 per cent, according to CAPMAS figures. The United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported in March that an estimated 6.3 million buffalo and cattle and 7.5 million sheep and goats are at risk in Egypt. Although foot and mouth disease has struck in Egypt before, the current virus strain is a new one and livestock have no immune protection against it. Foodstuffs have the largest impact on Egypt's inflation rate, as they constitute 44 per cent of the total items included in the country's weighted basket of commodities. Egypt's consumer price index increased by 1.2 per cent month-on-month to record 9 per cent in March. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/40079.aspx
