There’s daylight between Cabinet and the house on whether the so-called “profit margin guidance” on commodities is meant as a friendly suggestion — or a law.  The House Economy Committee is looking to draft a bill capping margins on basic goods (sugar, rice, and cooking oil) at 5% and certain other goods at 10%, Al Borsa reported. The pandering, populist House is saying that the move is important in light of the current runaway inflation. The House will consult with government ministries on the caps, said the committee’s deputy chair Amr El Gohary. As we noted yesterday, business and industry associations have called the move illegal.

Meanwhile, on the government’s side: “There is no obligation for setting the price. We will not be pushing companies to sell at a certain price. It is just a direction, that is all. There is no legal requirement," Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil told Reuters yesterday after news the government had formed a committee to set “appropriate” profit margins for essential goods raised fears in the business community that the days of Nasserist price controls were on their way back. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail had said that the committee would focus on profit margins, not prices — we really see little difference — and suggested last night that the state would intervene under exigent circumstances. Kabil said he had no details on the goods to which the guidelines might apply or when they would be introduced. Ismail is expected to meet with the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) this week to discuss the issue, a source from the FEI tells Al Mal.