On Tuesday, Egypt's Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker announced new prices for household electricity consumption for the 2018/2019 fiscal year, which begins in July. The increase in the price of electricity for all households, divided into six tiers based on consumption, amounts on average to 20.9 percent. The new hikes are part of the government's multi-year plan to phase out subsidies to electricity in order to help close the budget deficit according to its economic reforms program. Ahram Online presents a guideline on how much households will pay in EGP for monthly electric bills, based on six average monthly consumption scenarios: * Consumers using 50 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month will pay EGP 12, up from EGP 7.5 (The government subsidy here is EGP 53. Consumers pay 18% of the cost) * 100 kWh per month – will pay EGP 28, up from EGP 19.5 (The government subsidy here is EGP 123. Consumers pay 23% of the actual cost) * 200 kWh per month – will pay EGP 78, up from EGP 60 (The government subsidy here is EGP 273. Consumers pay 33% of the actual cost) * 250 kWh per month – will be EGP 118, up from EGP 92.5 * 300 kWh per month – will be EGP 153, up from 120 * 350 kWh per month– will be EGP 188, up from 147.5 (The government subsidy for consumers in the 250-350 kilowatt range is EGP 220 . Consumers pay 46% of the actual cost) On Tuesday, Shaker highlighted that most citizens who fall in the mid-level household usage range of 201-350 kWh per month, and that they will benefit the most from the subsidies. The minister explained that the government provides an EGP 34.3 billion subsidy for the 17 million Egyptians registered in this mid-level usage range. The ministry had announced in July 2014 a five-year plan to phase out subsidies to electric bills. The government has raised raised prices gradually over the past four years, but postponed complete lifting of subsidies until fiscal year 2021-2022 in order to ease the burden on consumers.
