CAIRO: Speculations of the increase in the prices of meat, fish and chicken are circulating, with ministry officials denying the rumors. The ministry had released a price list to state-run newspaper Al Ahram over the weekend. Engineer Ahmed El Saedy, manager of Al Awaal farm, said the prices of meat, fish and chicken have already increased by 10-30 percent due to an estimated 40 percent increase in the cost of imported fodder. El Saedy told Daily News Egypt that this increase was "expected. "The price of meat will increase [even more] during Ramadan, El Saedy said, due to the high demand for meat during the holy month by the average consumers as well as charity organizations, which buy large supplies of meat to distribute to the poor. El Saedy explained that the price of meat usually increases as it is exchanged between a number of buyers before it reaches the supermarkets' shelves. "Hypothetically speaking, El Saedy said, "if one kilo is sold from the farm for LE 14.30, it will cost around LE 40 by the time it reaches the supermarket. On the other hand, Gaber Khaled, press officer at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which regulates all unsubsidized products, told Daily News Egypt that the price of meat, fish and chicken have not increased. He also said that the ministry released a statement with all current prices and it was published in Al-Ahram's Saturday issue. According to the published prices, the price of meat will range from LE 14 to LE 28 - according to its quality - chicken from LE 9.25 to LE 12, fresh fish from LE 7 to LE 20, and the frozen fish from LE 6 to LE 9. Khaled refused to send a copy of the statement to Daily News Egypt. On the front page of its Aug. 19 issue, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper said that the prices of meat, fish and chicken have already increased by 60 percent. However, according to Khaled, that number is "incorrect and the newspaper did not contact anyone from the Ministry of Trade and Industry to confirm. Yehia Mahmoud, media spokesperson for the Ministry of Supply - which oversees all government-subsidized products - told Daily News Egypt that "products that are not subsidized by the government [which include meat, fish and chicken] are subject to market demand. Their prices are not fixed, Mahmoud said.
