Egyptian banks give credit facilities of about LE3.9 billion every three months to wheat importers, National Bank of Egypt chairman Tareq Amer has said.
He said there is a steady increase in the cost of food.
Amer told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the cost of wheat imports increased considerably this year due to the rise in the international price of wheat.
Amer said he expects that in the future, the cost of importing wheat will amount to LE16 billion – or 5.3 percent – of Egypt's total imports of LE300 billion.
The World Bank had warned against repercussions of the rise in wheat prices on Egypt's economy.
According to a statement from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, Egypt's wheat imports are expected to reach 9 million tons by the end of the year, compared to 8.3 million tons the year before.
This makes Egypt the largest importer of wheat in the world.
Meanwhile, Ali Sharaf, the head of the grains chamber at the Egyptian Federation of Industries, attributed Egypt’s large wheat imports to the huge gap between production and consumption.
While local production stands at 6 million tons, consumption exceeds 14 million tons.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
