The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade and the Central Bank of Egypt agreed to accelerate the process of issuing letters of credit for private and public edible oil companies, while currently, the Ministry of Supply is sourcing raw materials from external markets, according to Minster Khaled Hanafy. Edible oil, sugar and rice factories are currently operating at near full utilisation to supply wholesalers with c3k tonnes of edible oil, 2.5-3k tonnes of rice and 4k tonnes of sugar, along with hundreds of other products manufactured by both the Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC) and private companies, Hanafy added. The Ministry is planning to offer the products from its warehouses to non-cooperative stores at discount, to be made available for consumers at reasonable prices. The decision comes in response to the ongoing food supply shortage as a result of FX pressures, with edible oil amongst the most heavily-influenced food items – several oil tenders were reportedly cancelled in the past three months, according to Reuters. (Al Mal, Enterprise, Reuters)