Cabinet tops up ration cards for Ramadan: The Ismail cabinet agreed at its Tuesday meeting to allocate EGP 1 bn to top-up ration cards for welfare recipients for the month of Ramadan to EGP 35 from the standard monthly EGP 21 in a bid to ease some of the pressure caused by inflation on low-income earners and the poor. Among other decisions taken yesterday, ministers::
- Signed off on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act meant to expedite legal proceedings.
- Approved Amendments to the Agricultural Actthat enforce stricter punishments of 1-2 years in prison and fines ranging from EGP 10k-50k for cotton ginners operating without the necessary permits.
- Okayed a KWD 100k (USD 328.6k) grant from the Kuwaiti Arab Economic Development Fund for agricultural development in North Sinai.