(Bloomberg) -- The government is studying the possibility of moving to a limited cash payment system in place of the ration card system on which tens of millions rely for basic commodities.
Authorities are consulting with a “number of entities” about the feasibility of the shift, the cabinet said in a statement, without identifying them. A report will be submitted to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, it said, offering no specific time frame.
The possible shift to a cash payments system speaks to the government's broader efforts to curb spending and streamline the ration card system that provides around 75% of the population with access to subsidized commodities such as rice, cooking oil and sugar.
Egypt Slashes Fuel Subsidies to Ease Pressure on State Finances
Officials want to ensure that the aid reaches the neediest of the nation's roughly 100 million residents, about half of whom live near or below the poverty line. The push is part of a broader program launched in 2016 in a bid to revive an economy battered in the wake of the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
To contact the reporter on this story: Abdel Latif Wahba in Cairo at alatifwahba@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tarek El-Tablawy at teltablawy@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel
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