Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Wednesday that Cairo will gradually raise the prices of petroleum products until December 2025.
Egypt currently spends billions of dollars on fuel and energy subsidies for millions of consumers, a move that has been repeatedly criticized by government officials and economic experts.
The International Monetary Fund estimated last April that fuel subsidies in Egypt would need to be reduced from EGP 331 billion ($6.8 billion) in fiscal year 2023-24 to EGP 245 billion ($5.1 billion) in 2024-25.
Madbouly said that Egypt cannot bear the increasing consumption and rising global prices.
He added that electricity consumption is increasing rapidly, reaching about 38.5 gigawatts per day, which forces Egypt to import natural gas to generate electricity and stop the load shedding policy it has adopted since last year.
Looking ahead, Madbouly said the deficit in generated electricity is estimated at around four gigawatts, and around 2.65 gigawatts of it is expected to be covered through new renewable energy projects scheduled to be delivered before the summer of next year in cooperation with the private sector.
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