Egypt Launches Plan to Trim Waste in Subsidized Bread
Egypt plans to introduce a smart card system for subsidized bread nationwide by July, in an attempt to curb corruption and smuggling. A pilot scheme is expected to be launched in the Suez Canal city of Port Said this week and will be implemented in other cities next week. Officials say they hope the new system will prevent subsidies allotted for bread which cost 3.15 billion dollars a year from being wasted and leaked.