The cost of the social protection package will reach EGP 84b in the budget of the new fiscal year (FY) after amending the subsidies, pensions, and allowances, in addition to the tax deduction, Egyptian Minister of Finance, Amr El-Jarhi, stated. He further noted that the package benefits all government employees and others, Amwal Al Ghad reported.

The minister also stated that the fuel and electricity subsidies are flawed and assured that moving the prices will aid in rebalancing the system, thus helping the Egyptian citizens with lower incomes,

The total financial losses due to energy subsidies reached EGP 700b during the last 14 years between FY 2002/03 and FY 2014/15, while the total deficit reached EGP 540b within the past 7 years.

Through a phone call to the TV program “Kol Youm”, presented by Amr Adeeb, El-Jarhi confirmed that the government is planning to increase the tax base from EGP 450b to EGP 600b during FY 2017/18.

He pointed out that the Egyptian economy was struggling from 2011 to 2015, noting that the volume of public debt in 2010 was EGP1.1t and rose to EGP3.7t.

Late June, Egypt’s Cabinet decided to cut fuel subsidies in order to ease the budget deficit, which led to an increase in benzene and diesel prices. Egyptian Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, said that economic reform decisions on the part of the state could no longer be delayed, according to Al -Ahram.