CAIRO - The increase in food prices accelerated in August, when the cost of staple food items, including sugar, showed a mighty leap of nearly 30 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the head of the Grocers' Union said Saturday. Emad Abdeen said that the price of one tonne of loose sugar has soared from LE3,550 to LE3,900 just before the beginning of Ramadan. In spite of efforts by the Government to shrink the excessive inflation rates and monopoly practices, the price of one kilo of sugar has reached LE4.5; Emad said. However, he indicated that the nation has enough strategic reserves of sugar to meet domestic consumption needs for Ramadan.
