Homes in seven areas in the Egyptian capital Cairo and other governorates will be supplied with natural gas this month, the Petroleum Ministry announced on Sunday. These areas are located in Giza, Cairo, Kafr El-Sheikh, Gharbiya, Beni Suef and the Tenth of Ramadan City, the ministry said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla. The move comes as part of the ministry's initiative to replace cooking gas cylinders with natural gas across the nation to improve services offered to citizens and ease financial burdens on the state. In the new petroleum contracts, citizens will pay EGP 30 a month over six years interest free, along with the standard monthly bill of their natural gas consumption. The Egyptian government announced in July it was raising the price of natural gas for household and commercial use by up to 75 percent, effective August 1. The price for consuming up to 30 cubic metres of gas had been set at 1.75 Egyptian pounds ($0.0979) per cubic metre, up from 1.00 pounds. The price for consuming between 30 and 60 cubic metres was raised to EGP 2.50, up from EGP 1.75, while consumption of more than 60 cubic metres was set at EGP 3.00, up from EGP 2.25.