The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) secured dlrs 1.8 billion for a six-month strategic reserve of staple commodities, the supply minister said.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Minister of Supply Mohamed Ali Moselhi said the strategic reserve of wheat is enough for five months.

The General Authority For Supply Commodities (GASC) holds international bids for importing high quality wheat at low prices, he said, noting that Egypt imports about 75 to 95 percent of its needs of wheat.

Moselhi said the strategic reserve of sugar is enough for four months, noting that the current sugar crisis stemmed from the private sector's refraining from providing industrial and trade sectors with sugar.

He added that the ministry does not have any problem in securing sugar for ration card-holders.

He noted that cooking oil reserve is enough for five months. 

As for rice, he said there would be no rice problem as the door is open for importing rice