Egypt’s petroleum ministry stated in a statement that it will freeze domestic fuel prices for at least a year following its most recent hikes on Friday. In accordance with government initiatives to cut subsidies and decrease a budget deficit, the nation increased prices on a variety of gasoline items on Friday, according to its official gazette. This was the second hike this year.
A roughly 15% increase in April was followed by increases of 10.5% to 12.9% on a variety of petroleum goods. Egypt recently expressed its optimism that, if world markets remained stable, that would be the final significant increase in petroleum costs.
The International Monetary Fund stated in March that Egypt is still committed to reducing its energy subsidies and aligning domestic prices with actual costs by December as it attempts to close a sizeable current account deficit. The government promised to keep subsidizing diesel, even if doing so meant that other fuel prices would have to be raised above cost in order to pay for the subsidy partially. Under a $8 billion loan, the IMF has pressured the government to increase social safety nets while reducing fuel, energy, and food subsidies.
According to figures from the country’s central bank, Egypt’s current account deficit was $2.2 billion in the second quarter, while oil product imports increased to $500 million from $400 million in the same period last year.
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