Wheat at record is the worst thing that could happen to Egypt
by David P. Goldman • Jul 20, 2012 at 4:09 pm
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3183/wheat-at-record-is-the-worst-thing-that-could
The price of wheat on the active futures contract shot up to $943 a bushel from only $625 a bushel just a month ago, due to the drought in the US Midwest and other factors. That is a further blow to stability in Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, dependent on foreign sources for half its caloric consumption. Egypt now imports 800,000 metric tons of wheat a year. At $943 a bushel its import bill is about $28 billion, a $9.5 billion increase over the cost at $625. Egypt has about $15 billion in total foreign exchange reserves but only $7 billion in liquid reserves. I'd say they are in trouble.
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