Egypt bought 240,000 tons of wheat from Romania, Ukraine and Russia. The shipments are expected to be received between 1 and 10 September, the General Authority for Supply Commodities reported on Wednesday. Last week, Egypt's new government had imported 300,000 tons of wheat from the same countries, to be delivered between 21 and 31 August. The resumption of wheat-buying comes after the fall of president Mohamed Morsi, whose government had halted wheat imports in February betting instead on increased domestic production. Newly-appointed Supply Minister Mohamed Abu Shadi told reporters last week that halting wheat imports had been the previous government's biggest mistake as they relied on miscalculations regarding the country's stocks. The interim minister announced that Egypt's wheat stocks, which currently stand at 3.6 to 3.7 million tons of local wheat and 500,000 of imported wheat, would suffice until November. Earlier in July, ousted president Morsi's supply minister Bassem Ouda had told Reuters that Egypt had less than two months' worth of imported wheat left in stock. Abu Shadi said that his government aimed to increase total wheat stocks to between 5 and 6.5 million tons by the end of the current fiscal year in June 2014. The new minister also vowed to open a public discussion about Egypt's 'problematic' subsidised bread programme that includes producers, distributors and consumers. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/77305.aspx
