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Egypt's strategic wheat reserve enough for five months: Official

Xinhua, October 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Egyptian Supply Minister Mohamed Ali Moselhi said on Wednesday that the country's strategic reserve of wheat is enough for five months.

Speaking to reporters at his office, the minister said the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), the state's grain buyer, imports the best wheat at low prices through weekly international tenders, adding that Egypt imports about 75 to 95 percent of its wheat needs.

The minister also revealed that the Central Bank of Egypt has secured 1.8 billion U.S. dollars for a six-month strategic reserve of staple commodities such as cooking oil, sugar and rice.

The Egyptian government will cooperate with the private sectors in the next purchase season to seek a healthier way to store wheat, according to Ali Moselhi.

He affirmed that the government will not collect wheat stored in open-air silos.

Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, lifted in September a ban on importing wheat containing ergot fungus, a common grain fungus, after it had failed to clear any international wheat shipments.

The Egyptian government has now aligned itself with the international standard to allow 0.05 percent of ergot fungus in imported wheat.

Since February, conflicting decisions made by GASC and the agricultural authorities over the fungus has caused confusion among suppliers, driving some to boycott tenders.

Ergot can cause hallucinations when consumed in large amounts. The most widely applied international standard sets a 0.05 percent tolerance level of the fungus.

According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, Egypt is estimated to import 11 million tons of wheat for the 2015-16 marketing year. Endit