A governmental official stated to Egypt Oil&Gas that sovereign authorities are strongly rejecting the raise in prices of petroleum products during the current fiscal year 2016/2017.
The authorities demanded Prime Minister Sherif Ismail’s administration to postpone the decision of increasing fuel prices to the new budget of 2017/ 2018 to be parallel to the launching of the third phase of fuel smart card system in all gas stations all over Egypt.
According to an Egyptian Media, the government has been in talks over increasing current prices by 30% to 40%, as the value of the local currency has declined since November 2016 and the cost of subsidies exceeded the allocated budget.
The official explained to Egypt Oil&Gas that the plan to gradually lift subsidies over the period of three years is meant to ensure that subsidies are reaching the low income citizens.
He further added that the government’s strategic plan is continuing and will not stop, but the price increase should be postponed, since the current economic situation in Egypt does not provide a good scenario to implement the measure.