Setting up of a pricing guide for fruits and vegetables

To attempt to stabilize the prices of agricultural products, the government has set up a price guide.

The objective is to maintain a fair profit margin of all parties concerned and to protect the consumer. Every Thursday, a meeting between the Ministries of Food, Agriculture and representatives of suppliers, will allow to set the prices of fruits and vegetables for the following week.

Fruits and vegetables concerned: peppers, onions, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, pears, pomegranates, tomatoes, potatoes. So for the first week of implementation of the "control": tomatoes must be sold between 1.50 LE and 2.00 LE , potatoes from 4.75 LE to 5.50 LE.  This makes about 1 LE less than the practiced prices.

This price control is admited with skepticism by retailers and consumers. Some were argueing that a store has higher fees than street vendor, and the others that the price can vary depending on the product quality.

For some, ministerial initiative does not solve the fundamental problem of Egyptian agriculture. The soaring costs of production over the last 10 years.

source : ahram org eg, al arabiya net en,