Sugar: Subsidised Prices and Egyptian Authorities

sugar: Egyptian authorities, who have blamed traders and suppliers for hoarding and smuggling goods, said they have so far seized 9,000 tonnes of sugar in raids on factories and warehouses, including facilities belonging to Pepsico and Edita, one of the country largest manufacturers of confectionaries, according to The Guardian. The sugar is intended for resale to the public at subsidised prices. Sugar has all but vanished from supermarkets and imports of items such as powdered infant formula and even some contraceptives are down. A man in Cairo was recently arrested and bailed for carrying 10kg of sugar, as this exceeded possession of amounts reasonable for personal use , according to Egypt largest newspaper, al-Ahram. The dollar shortage, and the suspension of oil aid from Saudi Arabia earlier this month, have also led to a widening gap between the official and parallel market trading rate of Egypt currency. Egypt imports about a million tonnes of sugar annually – about a third of its total consumption – but an acute shortage of dollars has cut imports by private traders, leaving the market short. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.