The Egyptian government will postpone its plan to restructure subsidies for principle commodities due to the Ministry of Finance’s refusal to provide more than LE70 millions required for the new plan, a senior government official has told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The source identified problems in the existing database of poor, subsidy-receiving families. The Ministry of Finance, he said, does not effectively distinguish between families and households on ration cards, noting that there are several cards that include names of beneficiary family members who have left their households.
For example, a recipient’s ration card may include the names of family members (usually sons and grandsons) who have moved out. That, the source argued, creates confusion in the ration card distribution system. He also said the ministry refuses to separate families on ration cards because it will make the subsidies program more expensive.
The source went on to explain that four recepients per card can qualify for additional subsidies, while the rest can only receive a basic-level quota. He added that separating beneficiaries would increase the total number of ration cards from 12 million to 16 million, which will cause a surge in the number of recipients of additional supplies, like oil, sugar, and rice.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
