Egypt's supply minister says new price for bread "will take time"

Egypt's Supply Minister Ali Moselhy said on Thursday deciding a new price for subsidized bread "will take time."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in August said it was time to increase the price of the country's subsidized bread, revisiting the issue for the first time since 1977 when then-president Anwar Sadat reversed a price rise in the face of riots. The subsidized loaf has been sold since then for 5 Egyptian piasters ($0.0032).

The prices of commodities have been increasing since January, across vegetable oils markets, sugar and lately wheat, he said. "The wheat price set by suppliers will take into account inflation," he said, adding that the country's strategic reserves of sugar are sufficient until February.