Three cabinet ministers have voiced concerns this week that budgetary allocations for 2019-20 will not cover the cost of their programmes, Gamal Essam El-Din reports. Minister of Education Tarek Shawki told parliament's Budget Committee that the LE99 billion the Ministry of Finance has allocated the education sector in 2019-20 was insufficient to cover basic needs. “It is far short of the amount required. We had expected at least LE138 billion,” said Shawki. The education minister said LE110 billion was required to increase the salaries of teachers and additional sums were needed to implement the new education system that came into force in September. “The system requires the drafting of new curricula, new books and training for teachers, the setting up of Internet systems and the purchase of tablets,” added Shawki. Shortage of funding last year forced the Education Ministry to cut its planned spending by 50 per cent, said Shawki, and plans to restore and build schools, at an estimated cost LE3 billion, were put on hold. “The Ministry of Finance promised that it would make up for the shortfall in the new budget but this hasn't happened.” Minister of Health Hala Zayed says health allocations fall far short of the additional LE33 billion the ministry had asked for. “The Finance Ministry increased the Health Ministry budget by LE2 billion — up from LE61 billion last year to LE63 billion — much less than the funding required to cover our needs,” said Zayed. Zayed said the shortfall threatened the rollout of the first stage of the new national health insurance system. “The first stage is scheduled to be implemented in the governorate of Port Said in July. It is a small city with a population of just one million, but it will take LE5 billion for the first stage of the national insurance system to be implemented” said Zayed. “The health sector isn't a luxury. It's a matter of life and death.” Zayed said rolling out the health insurance system to the four governorates of Port Said, Suez, Ismailia and Luxor will require LE17.5 billion. “As a ministry we are tasked with protecting the rights of patients. Yet the World Bank estimated the cost of treating hepatitis C at $3.8 billion per annum, an amount far beyond the financial capacities of Egypt's health sector.” Zayed said the health sector had two choices. “Either we stop implementing the health insurance system or you, MPs, change the budget to give us more funds to push the system forward.” Chairman of the Budget Committee Hussein Eissa responded by saying that it “will be impossible not to implement the health insurance system. “The law and its executive regulations have been passed and every step must now be taken to implement the scheme.” Zayed said other ministry programmes would suffer from the lack of funding, including nationwide screening of school students for anemia and malnutrition, of university students for hepatitis C, and women for certain types of cancer. “We also need to increase the number of hospitals by at least 100 in the next five years to keep up with the increase in population. But a hospital with 100 beds costs at least LE750 million,” said Zayed. Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker told the Budget Committee the amount to cover subsidies allocated to the ministry had been cut by 75 per cent, from LE16 billion last year to just LE4 billion. As a result, Shaker said electricity prices will go up. “Electricity bills will increase in July and as part of the five-year subsidy cut programme,” said Shaker. In a meeting with parliament's Industry Committee, Shaker said that “despite repeated cuts in subsidies introduced since 2015 electricity prices in Egypt are still below international rates.” “The Ministry of Electricity still owes the Ministry of Petroleum a staggering LE145 billion for fuel supplies. If electricity subsidies are kept in place in the new fiscal year there would be a LE36 billion gap in our budget.” “We have to pay LE20 billion in debt service in the new [fiscal] year,” said Shaker. “We have no choice but to increase electricity prices. Indeed, it has been agreed all subsidies must be eradicated by the end of 2020.” Meanwhile, parliament's Energy Committee approved the budget of the National Authority of Nuclear Stations for Electric Generation on Monday. “The budget will increase to LE6.2 billion, up from LE5.7 billion last year. The extra cash will help the authority implement several projects, including the new nuclear power generation station at Dabaa,” said committee chairman Talaat Al-Sewidi. The authority's representative Mahmoud Khalil told MPs construction of the Dabaa power station will begin in 2020. “The Dabaa project is progressing, in coordination with the Russians, according to schedule,” said Khalil.
