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Egypt’s fuel subsidies jumped by 34 percent to 51 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.9 billion) from during the fist half of financial year 2017/2018, said Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla on Wednesday.
“Fuel products subsidies has reached about 51 billion pounds in the first six months of the current fiscal year, but we are still 4 billion pounds below the allocated amounts for fuel subsidies in the 2017-18 budget,” el-Molla told Reuters by telephone.
The government had initially budgeted an estimated 110 billion pounds for fuel subsidies in the financial year 2017/2018 budget.
The government has raised fuel prices twice in a period of eight months, most recently in June.
Egypt is currently implementing reforms that include using smart cards at gas stations and the use of ration cards to distribute subsidised cooking gas canisters to eligible households.
Source: Reuters & Ahram online
