In its “budget of citizen costs for the current fiscal year (2015-2016),” the Ministry of Finance announced that the subsidy bill for petroleum products this year was EGP 61.7b—compared to EGP 100.3b—during the last fiscal year, reported Masrawy.

The budget statement explained that while the citizen’s average share of these subsidies are only EGP 692 a year, the main beneficiaries are still the better off.

This is why the government is working diligently to achieve social justice through the rationalization of energy subsidies and directing those finances to improve the quality of programs that generate social returns for everyone.

The ministry added that the smartcard system is meant to guarantee that only those eligible will receive subsidies, while the black market will be clamped down on.

The ministry attributed the decline in the subsidy bill for petroleum products during the current fiscal year to the significant decline in global oil prices, in addition to subsidy reform.