In a step toward further success in the bread and ration ‘smart cards’ supply system, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Dr Khaled Hanafi, Minister of Planning Dr Ashraf El Arabi have signed a cooperation protocol with Vice President of Visa International , Steven Kehoe, to study the subsidies offered to citizens through the Ministry of Supply, and propose a system in which citizens would use smart cards to get their monthly government supply -bread, oil and such. This infact will assure transparency, as the government would then know every citizen’s consumption, and will prevent those who exploit the government’s aid through selling aid in black markets an high prices.
Rationalization is the purpose of such agreement, the protocol aims to provide many benefits to citizens, as it will facilitate their access to subsidies, and secure the shares of the ones most in need.
Hanafi stressed that the protocol aims to increase and develop services provided to citizens on smart cards, and take advantage of technological development in the employment of the subsidies system -which amounts to around EGP 40 billion, and raise the benefit between 20 per cent and 30 per cent.
This can be done through increasing services such as using it as a guarantee in buying electronic appliances and avoid the problem of imprisonment in installment-related cases, enable needing families to    pay installments safely and increase the movement of internal trade.
He added that Visa International has joined in as a volunteer partner without any financial burden on the state to enhance performance of the raise the level of work in support of Egypt system explaining that it will not replace smart cards under the Ministry of Administrative Development companies, but there will be cooperation and coordination between them to raise the quality of smart cards system. As it stressed that the signing of the protocol is one way to achieve the objectives of the 2030 strategy for establishing social justice and a complementation of a series of systems for bread and goods supply.
