The Ministry of Electricity is set to pay EGP 700m to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth next week, as part of the arrears it owes for fuel used for electricity production. Sources at the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) is committed to pay EGP 500m per month for the fuel it uses to feed its plants, adding that the increase of arrears to EGP 41bn, forced the company to raise the monthly installments to EGP 700m. A source told Daily News Egypt that the ministry aims to further increase the monthly installments to EGP 1bn. He noted that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth will want to collect part of its arrears to commit to supplying power plants. The total estimated value of fuel consumption of the Ministry of Electricity stands at EGP 3.6-3.9bn per month. The Ministry of Finance pays 50% of the bill on behalf of the electricity ministry. Moreover, the source said that the Ministry of Electricity paid EGP 20bn to the Petroleum Ministry through the loan it obtained from Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt. The ministry also paid EGP 1.2bn from the collection of electric bills. Collectively, the ministry has paid EGP 21.2bn of its arrears to the Ministry of Petroleum, leaving EGP 41bn. The source noted that the electricity sector is suffering from failure to collect consumption bills from sovereign institutions and government agencies. The Holding Company for Water & Wastewater (HCWW), the Ministry of Religious Endowments, and sovereign bodies are the entities owing the most to the ministry. Arrears of the business sector owed to the electricity sector amounted to EGP 9bn.
