Jerusalem, Nov 25 - Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai on Sunday rescinded a government decision that would have removed price controls on bread, saying prices would have risen by too much.
Earlier in the month, the cabinet voted to lift price controls on basic bread items in response to bakeries' protests that flour and wheat costs had soared, making it uneconomic to bake items largely bought by the poor.
But Yishai on Sunday said he would not sign the order to remove price controls from bread.
"This decision was taken as a result of an announcement on unreasonable price hikes on the part of bakeries and suppliers," Yishai said in a statement.
Food prices in Israel have jumped this year along with a global trend of soaring food costs. Domestic inflationary pressures have increased as a result, only offset by a weak dollar that has led to a decline in prices of housing and other items linked to the U.S. currency.