Reduced export subsidies to hit Egypt's citrus season

The Egyptian government has decided to reduce subsidies to support exports, including agricultural exports, from November 1, 2024. In the agricultural sector, subsidies were reduced from 8-10% to 2.4-3% of invoices, EastFruit reports. Among the most affected agricultural exporters were citrus exporters, given the scale of volumes, which last season amounted to 2.3 million tons worth $ 1.1 billion. Despite this, Amgad Nessem, export manager of El Teriak Farms, welcomes the measure with relief, freshplaza writes. He says: “Of course, it will be difficult to adapt to this measure at first, but it is a healthy decision that will bring greater stability to the citrus export sector and will solve many of the problems or harmful side effects caused by these specific subsidies.” The exporter explains: “The first thing to keep in mind is that, with hard currency reserves, especially the US dollar, in recent years, banks have been requiring Egyptian importers to obtain the dollars they need ...