The Ministry of Transportation has said that the cabinet is looking into a study on raising Cairo metro ticket prices, state media reported. Both the ministry and the Egyptian Company for Metro Management denied they had received orders to raise the ticket prices, asserting that it is up to the cabinet to decide. If approved, the new prices may reach either EGP 1.5 or EGP 2 per ticket. Last August, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi commented on the need to develop and undertake maintenance work on "state services", adding that the metro services lost over EGP 150m last year. A total of EGP 80bn is required to fund the wider expansion of Egypt's metro network, which also entails building the second phase of the third metro line in Cairo, Al-Sisi added. The new metro phase is planned to link the neighbourhoods of Heliopolis, Ain Shams, and Imbaba with central Cairo and Cairo International Airport. The possible rise in the EGP 1 ticket has sparked a wave of condemnation by political groups and activists, who accused the government of inefficiently running public sector projects and following unfair economic policies. Since last December, government officials have released conflicting reports on the price hike, with discussions at the Ministry of Transportation evolving around the possible increase to cover the company's deficit as of the beginning of 2015.
