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Sunday, 28 October 2018

Markets suffers potato “crisis,” free internet for a month?

The spike in the price of potatoes was the hottest topic on the airwaves last night.

But first: You’re may be able to claim one month of free internet from service providers if your connection speed has not been its best lately, if this report from Sabah El Balad is to be believed. The report cites statements from the head of the Consumer Protection Agency’s (CPA) complaints division, Ahmed Shaaban, who says that the policy is valid under an MoU between the CPA and national telecoms regulator (watch, runtime: 1:11).

Citizens have been lining up outside Interior Ministry outlets to purchase potatoes at wholesale prices after a market shortage led traders to double their prices, which reached highs of EGP 15 per kilo, Amr Adib said on El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 3:26). The Interior Ministry has been making an effort to penalize price gouging, Eman El Hosary pointed out on Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 2:56) as the head of the Agriculture Ministry’s follow-up division, Abbas El Shennawy, told the host that some retailers have been holding on to their potato stocks so they can later sell them at higher prices.

Prices should drop back to their average EGP 6 a kilo within 20 days at most as crops from the new harvest season hit the market, Shennawy told El Hosary (watch, runtime: 9:07). The head of the ministry’s horticulture and agricultural crops division, Mahmoud Atta, also said as much on Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 2:04), where host Lama Gebril discussed with officials a plan to add more retail outlets and logistics centers in the coming months to ensure the availability of food staples at stable prices (watch here, runtime: 6:08 and here, runtime: 20:28).

Separately, Japan’s Maruebni is expected to build a textile factory in Kafr El Sheikh over the course of three years, Spinning and Weaving Company Chairman Ahmed Moustafa told Hona Al Asema. The two sides signed an MoU for the project last week, with reports saying it would be funded through a loan on preferential terms extended by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The plan is part of government efforts to rehabilitate the sector, which has suffered heavy losses, he said. The new factory is expected to create jobs, he added, noting that there are no plans to downsize the current workforce (watch here, runtime: 5:27 and here, runtime: 3:00).

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