Good news for local wheat farmers?
The pundits spent most of last night unpacking the information released by the IMF yesterday on our USD 3 bn facility (see the full story in our Economy section, above.) Elsewhere, the talking heads were talking about moves to maximize this year’s wheat harvest.
Will gov’t up its wheat purchase price? President Abdel Fattah El Sisi directed the government yesterday to set a local wheat purchase price that is profitable for farmers and would encourage them to up production, according to an Ittihadiya statement.
That will likely mean increasing the EGP 1k per ardeb price point that cabinet set last summer for the 2023 harvest season — which already represents a hike of nearly 15% from the EGP 865-885 per ardeb it paid last year, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Mohamed El Kersh told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi in a phone call (watch, runtime: 3:52). Agriculture Minister El Sayed El Quseir also discussed the news in a phone call with Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 21:31.)