Egypt to lower commodity prices by up to 25%

Egypt’s government and the country’s private sector have joined forces and agreed to lower the prices of seven essential commodities by 15 to 25 percent, according to a local media report.

The new initiative will initially focus on beans, lentils, dairy products, white cheese, pasta, sugar, cooking oil and rice. In addition, prices of live and frozen poultry and eggs will be lowered by 15 percent, Daily News Egypt newspaper reported.

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The prices of basic commodities have risen due to scarcity of sufficient raw materials for production, mainly for food products, the report added.

Last week Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Egypt’s credit rating to “Caa1” from “B3”, citing high inflation and rising domestic borrowing costs.

The downgrade also reflects the persistence of foreign currency shortages due to increasing external debt service payments over the next two years.