Nayrouz Talaat

Egypt took preparations this year to meet domestic demands during Al-Adha (The Sacrifice) feast, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Investment on Friday.

Investment Minister Osama Saleh said that there will be a 10 to 15 percent discount on basic commodities and meat in public stores from October 1 until the feast, the second most important festival in the Muslim world. 

According to astrological measures, the feast will begin on October 15. 

Demands increase on fresh meat and livestock rather than frozen meat, imported from Brazil and India, during Eid (the feast) due to the increase in sheep slaughter.

On the other hand, Ahmed Ayat, a member of the Association for Livestock Imports, said contracts started since Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting) to meet the people's demands.

He pointed out that there is 5,000 Ethiopian cattle that have reached ports this month, 3,000 camels from Ethiopia and about 3,000 sheep imported from Sudan.

Meanwhile, another discount at 10 to 15 percent will also be imposed on travel tickets for freight and road transportation, in cooperation with the Holding Company for Road and Freight Transportation, the minister said.

The discount on transportation tickets will be nationwide, parallel with the start of the new school year (2013-14), in order to decrease the expenses of commuting of students across governorates, Saleh added.