The government has no intention to raise fuel prices again for the current financial year 2017/2018, Egyptian Finance Minister Amr el-Garhy says. Egypt will continue reducing spending on fuel subsidies in the coming three and five years, El-Garhy said in a telephone interview with private television channel ONTV on Sunday. Egypt's government announced a week earlier an increase in gasoline and diesel prices in the second fuel hike since a currency floatation, a sharper rise than expected by many struggling with soaring living costs. Fuel price increases had been widely anticipated as part of Egypt's loan accord with the International Monetary Fund and Thursday's measures were the second rise since the government floated the pound currency in November. The price of 92-octane gasoline had been put up by more than 40 percent to 5 Egyptian pounds ($0.2767) from 3.5 pounds per litre. Diesel and 80-octane – the most commonly used fuel categories – hiked more than 50 percent to 3.65 pounds per litre from 2.35 pounds. The government also increased the price of cooking gas cylinders – used mostly by poorer Egyptians – by 100 percent to 30 pounds ($1.66) from 15 pounds per cylinder. The total subsidies for petroleum products in 2017-2018 is set to fall to 110 billion Egyptian pounds ($6.09 billion) from 145 billion pounds ($8.02 billion). Fuel oil prices to cement factories will rise by 40 percent to 3,500 Egyptian pounds per tonne from 2,500 pounds a tonne, but gas prices to the industrial sector will remain stable.
