Seizing subsidised goods is cardinal sin, Egypt’s top Islamic agency says
Massive plan afoot in Arab world’s most populous country to overhaul subsidy system
Egypt’s top Islamic body, Dar Al Ifta, has prohibited illegal acquisition of subsidised goods as the country is struggling to overhaul the bloated socialist-era subsidy system.
The agency, in charge of issuing binding edicts in the mostly Muslim country, said Tuesday that illicit seizure of subsidised commodities or barring the needy from having access to them is proscribed by Islamic Sharia law and was a “cardinal sin”.
Such practices “constitute harm to and aggression on those who deserve them and the public money,” Dar Al Ifta added in an online statement.
The admonition comes as Egyptian authorities have recently stepped up raids on outlets illegally trading in subsidised food to rake in profits from the difference in prices between subsidised goods and those on the free market.
“Buying subsidised goods from those who have plundered them is prohibited if the buyer learns about this [plundering] as this represents complicity in sinfulness and aggression,” Dar Al Ifta said. “Gains made through these deals are illicit and wicked.”
The institution urged wrongdoers to repent and refund the value of the goods. In recent months, the Egyptian government has partially cut state subsidies on fuel and electricity as part of tough economic reforms.
Subsidy doubled
However, President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi last month doubled the value of subsidised food obtained by ration card holders to ease the effect of recent cuts in the energy subsidy on people living on limited incomes.
Around 71 million of Egypt’s 93 million people currently have access food system.
A few months ago, the government started a nationwide plan to revise beneficiaries of the system in a move reportedly aimed at excluding 10 per cent of the current ration card holders. They have until July 15 to update their data related to jobs, residence areas and electricity bills, criteria seen as helping determine eligibility for food subsidies.
Egypt’s subsidised system dates back to the Second World War. The government has said it has allocated a total of 86 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh17.8 billion) to subsidise bread and other foodstuffs in the national budget for the new fiscal year that started on July 1. to the subsidised