A member of the House of Representatives, Abu Abbas Farhat Turki, a submitted a briefing request to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Hanafi Jabali regarding the rise in commodity prices and the exploitation of citizens by “greedy” merchants.
In a statement issued Thursday, Turki warned that merchants take advantage of low-income Egyptian citizens, unjustifiably raising prices to the point that commodity prices are rising “every hour”.
He urged the necessity of returning “forced pricing” in an effort to curb the greed of merchants and provide social protection for ordinary citizens.
Prices are rising to an “insane” degree, Turki noted, devouring both low-income and well-off citizens. This is a consequence of sellers turning a blind eye to deteriorating economic conditions and making profits only for their own interest, he said.
The representative called on the government to establish decisive mechanisms that will strike with an iron fist anyone who dares tamper with the livelihood of citizens and harm Egypt’s national security.
Sky-high inflation
The annual consumer price inflation in Egyptian cities rose from 32.7 percent in May to 35.7 percent in June, its highest rate ever, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on September.
The data showed that the annual inflation rate recorded 36.8 percent for June 2023, compared to 33.7 percent for May and 14.7 percent for June 2022.
The general consumer price index for the reached (177.6) points for the month of June 2023, recording an increase of two percent compared to May 2023.
Reuters polled 12 analysts whose average forecast was that annual urban consumer inflation would rise to 34.5 percent in June from 32.7 percent in May, just below the record high recorded in 2017.
CAPMAS said that the reasons for this jump is the increase in the prices of the meat and poultry by 3.3 percent, the fish and seafood by 2.9 percent, dairy, cheese and eggs by 0.4 percent, the oils and fats by 0.2 percent, fruit by 5.7 percent and sugar/sugary foods with 1.4 percent.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
