Egypt's government will reduce spending on fuel subsidies to 33 billion Egyptian pounds in the 2017/18 draft budget from ُ35 billion pounds in the current financial year 2016/17, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported Monday. Last month, Egypt's finance minister Amr el-Garhy told Al-Ahram daily newspaper in an interview that the country's total subsidy bill in the coming financial year (2017/18) is estimated at 385 billion pounds, up from 285 billion pounds in the current financial year. The draft budget also highlighted the raising of the Takaful and Karama social safety net programme's allocations from 10 billion pounds in 2016/2017 to 15 billion pounds in the new budget draft. The Takaful and Karama programme, established by the government in early 2015, is aimed at protecting the poor through income support. Egypt started a fiscal reform programme in July 2014 in an attempt to curb the growing state budget deficit through cutting subsidies and introducing new taxes. The cost of fuel imports boomed since Egypt floated its currency in November 2016. Source: Ahram Online
