The bread subsidy system needs reform — without affecting needy citizens

The bread subsidy system is in dire need of reform that can no longer be postponed, particularly considering how much of the state’s resources are directed towards sustaining the system, Abdelnaby El Shahhat writes for Youm7. Between graft at smart card manufacturers and the widespread corruption within the system’s institutions, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy has his work cut out for him, El Shahhat says. Al Masry Al Youm’s Hamdy Rizk agrees that the subsidy system is in need of reform, but rebukes El Moselhy for what he sees as a Marie Antoinette-esque attitude that belittles citizens’ reliance on subsidized bread. Rizk warns that Egypt’s poor subsist largely on subsidized bread, and calls on El Moselhy to direct his reform efforts to weeding out moochers and curbing black market activity.