In a press conference following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced approving the local wheat procurement price for the new harvest season at EGP 1,000 plus EGP 250 as additional incentives.

The total amount is EGP 250 higher than the guide price of local wheat procurement the cabinet announced in August as a step that "reflects the state's keenness to support farmers and encourage them to cultivate and supply wheat to the state."

The raise will lead the state to more than double the money allocated to support wheat in the general budget to EGP 95 billion, up from EGP 38 billion the previous year, Madbouly noted.

The state will continue to supply farmers with subsidised fertilisers as part of its efforts to support agriculture and farmers, he added.

The raise is part of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's directives to provide a rewarding price for the wheat supply this season, the Prime Minister added.

On Monday, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi announced that the state targets buying four million tons of local wheat from farmers during the upcoming harvest season, slightly less than the amount purchased last year.

During the 2022 harvest season, Egypt bought 4.2 million tons of local wheat from farmers, falling short of attaining the targeted amount – announced previously by officials – of six million tons.

Egypt relies heavily on wheat for making bread, a main staple in the Egyptian diet, with citizens consuming almost 100 billion loaves of bread annually, Madbouly said in August.

The 104-million country has been suffering from a wheat shortage since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. Eighty percent of Egypt's imported wheat comes from the two warring countries.

The government has since been looking to buy wheat from other countries to diversify Egypt’s wheat import sources.