Egypt defers payments for wheat imports amid dollar crunch

Egypt defers payments for wheat imports amid dollar crunch

CAIRO - Egypt has deferred payments for its large wheat purchases, in some cases by months, according to a government official and traders, as the country grapples with a shortage of hard currency.

Egypt is one of the world's biggest wheat importers and uses the purchases to make heavily subsidised bread, a politically sensitive benefit available to tens of millions of people.

Most deferred payment cargoes have been shipped and unloaded without interruption so far and Egypt's state wheat reserves used to make subsidized bread have not been impacted.

Following the war in Ukraine, Egypt now depends mostly on Russia for its wheat.

Egypt's supply minister told Reuters the country's state grains buyer has deferred opening letters of credit to pay for wheat imports to alleviate financial pressures caused by a foreign currency shortage.

Four grain traders told Reuters on condition of anonymity that delays in payments for state-purchased wheat - considered a top priority commodity - were unprecedented as they were stretching to months.

The traders, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said issues arose with shipments coming in as early as last December that were to be settled using 180-day letters of credit. Under the letters, a