Political unrest, economic woes and price hikes do not seem enough reasons to tighten Egyptians' spending during Ramadan, reports Ahmed Kotb Despite the rapidly changing political and economic conditions, Egyptians still manage to gather with family and friends to share Iftar, the evening meal with which Muslims break their daily fast during the month of Ramadan. And like previous years consumption in Ramadan tends to be double that of any normal day. The higher demand accordingly has led to price increases in basic food items. Even before Ramadan started, consumers across the country felt the pinch of soaring food prices. "It started two weeks ahead of Ramadan, but I was expecting that anyway," said Tawfik El-Shorbagui, an accountant who supports his wife and three children. El-Shorbagui blames food merchants for the hikes claiming they exploit both the normal consumers, who are obliged to feed their families, and the consumers who are buying basic foodstuffs in large quantities to donate to the poor. The strange thing, El-Shorbagui added, is that the prices have increased just after the promises made by government officials vowing to control food prices and scrutinise retail outlets. Prices of local beans ( fuul) reached LE6.5 per kilogramme, up from LE5 two weeks ago, in poor areas where people depend mainly on fuul as their main food. Other strategic staples such as rice is sold at LE5.45 in a middle class area supermarket with a LE0.45 rise, and one litre of edible oil went up from LE8.25 to LE9. In addition, sugar prices have been increasing lately and a shortage of supply was the reason cited for why a kilogramme now costs LE6.5 when it cost LE5.5 only two weeks ago. The shortage was later blamed on "opportunistic food retailers" as declared by Ahmed El-Rakaibi, head of the Holding Company for Food Industries (HCFI). Similarly, a kilogramme of local meat is now sold as expensive as LE75. According to El-Rakaibi, prices soar insanely just a few days before Ramadan due to the fact that people scramble to buy their needs of staples for the whole month at once. Moreover, expenditure on yameesh -- dried fruits and nuts traditionally eaten in large quantities in the fasting month -- declined strikingly following more than 20 per cent increase in their prices. These prices are by all means unaffordable to the poor who depend heavily on ration cards that allow them to buy these products at lower prices from special outlets. There are 64 million citizens benefiting from ration cards. Through these cards, a person gets monthly two kilogrammes of sugar at a cost of LE2.5, two kilogrammes of rice at LE3, a kilogramme and half of edible oil for LE450 and a 50 grams pack of tea for LE0.65. El-Rakaibi announced that HCFI has prepared 3,225 outlets distributed all over Egypt, and prepared for the expected rise in consumption during Ramadan with huge quantities of staples, adding that a government decision was taken to sell all products to ration cards holders with nearly half of their normal prices. According to that decision, for ration card holders, a kilogramme of sugar is now sold at LE0.65, a kilogramme of rice costs LE1.5, cooking oil costs LE225 per kilogramme and a pack of tea costs LE0.30. El-Rakaibi also said that there is a special plan designed to control sugar prices, through supplying outlets, which sell their products to citizens who do not possess ration cards at higher prices, with additional 5,000 tonnes of sugar to control the market and prevent retailers from increasing the prices. Consumption during August alone is expected to reach 104,000 tonnes of sugar, 84,000 tonnes of rice, 73,000 tonnes of edible oil and 3,000 tonnes of tea. As for meat products, 12,000 of local calves along with another 77,000 imported, and 2,500 tonnes of poultry, are made available. However, people say traders will find a way to increase the prices and exploit consumers as long as the government does not step up its monitoring activities. On the other hand, the Ministry of Solidarity announced that it has started daily inspections, since the beginning of Ramadan, on ration groceries and other outlets as well as other markets to make sure that they abide by the announced prices, and that every person gets his share of staples without any manipulations. Additionally, the ministry's hot line (19805) is operating 24/7 to receive any complaints by citizens until the end of Ramadan.
