Despite the government’s announcement extending the exceptional increase on food subsidy cards for two additional months—May and June—at a value of 400 Egyptian pounds ($8) per month for eligible families, beneficiaries have yet to receive their payments.
The delay comes amid government contradictions regarding the process and mechanisms for disbursing the allocations, according to supply outlet officials and government sources who spoke to Al Manassa.
Last March, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the extension of the exceptional 400-pound ($8) monthly increase previously decided by the government for food subsidy cards covering March and April, extending it for two additional months in May and June. This extension, covering 10 million families registered in the subsidy system, aimed to help lower-income groups cope with the economic fallout of the US-Iran war.
For his part, Maged Nady, head of the General Syndicate for Supply Grocers, confirmed the availability of food subsidy goods across all outlets. He noted that the outlets had disbursed the allocations for the first grant covering March and April, while “no disbursement orders have yet arrived through the electronic system allowing outlets to disburse the additional allocations for May and June.”
Nady told Al Manassa that outlet owners have no explanation for the delay, and that they are awaiting government instructions enabling them to disburse the second grant.
Hesham El-Degwy, head of the foodstuffs division at the Giza Chamber of Commerce, said that what has actually been implemented so far is the disbursement of additional support totaling 800 pounds (about $16) over March and April. He stressed that the disbursement system has seen no updates permitting the disbursement of new support for the following two months.
Speaking to Al Manassa, El-Degwy denied that a shortage of goods was the reason for the non-disbursement, saying: “Supply commodities are available at the subsidy outlets, but there are no new distribution orders on the electronic system.”
Responding to this, Ahmed Kamal, official spokesperson for the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, said that what is currently being disbursed relates to the outstanding entitlements of citizens who had not received the full value of the previously approved additional support of 800 pounds.
Kamal told Al Manassa that the ministry has not yet received any new instructions or decisions regarding the disbursement of additional support beyond what had already been approved.
“We are currently focused on enabling the disbursement of the remaining entitlements for citizens who have not yet drawn the full 800-pound value,” Kamal said. “Once June ends and the disbursement of these remainders is complete, the situation can be assessed to determine whether there are new decisions in this regard.”
However, a senior Ministry of Finance source, who requested anonymity, told Al Manassa that the government had, during April, approved the financial allocations needed to disburse the two additional months of the supply grant for about 10 million subsidy cards, covering nearly 25 million citizens.
The source added that the funds allocated for disbursement reached the Ministry of Supply on April 20, affirming that no decisions have been issued to cancel the grant or walk back on its disbursement.
