Addressing the House of Representatives, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait assured that without these two crises, the country would have saved 7.5 billion dollars.

Quoted by Al Ahram newspaper, the official said that many sectors, particularly tourism and civil aviation, have suffered significant losses.

The Government is doing its best to contain the negative impact of both crises and ensure that all food and fuel products are available on the market, he stressed.

Faced with the calls of several parliamentarians to rationalize spending, the minister said: “that sounds great, but it could negatively affect sectors such as health, education and salaries.”

Egypt, with 103 million people, is the world’s largest wheat importer, and most of it came from Ukraine and Russia.

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