Gov. committed to PM’s promise ending load shedding starting 3rd week of July, cabinet spokesperson

CAIRO – 9 July 2024: Counselor Mohamed al Humosani, spokesperson for Egypt’s cabinet, said on Tuesday that the government is committed the Prime Minister promise regarding stopping load shedding starting the third week of July.

He added in televised statements that the government’s communication with citizens and the media will be of interest during the coming period, especially with President Sisi’s directives on the importance of communicating with public opinion and sharing all priority issues, and will be of interest and follow-up in the coming period.

The premier wants to get down to the country's actual needs of fuel supplies to put an end to power cuts, Humosani added, noting that the government is now gauging fuel consumption to determine actual fuel needs.

The state has allocated nearly $1.2 billion to secure the quantities of fuel needed to end power cuts, the spokesman said.

He explained that today's temporary suspension of the government load mitigation scheme was just an experiment to gauge the daily fuel consumption needs under current heatwaves with a view to avoiding power outages later.

The state will also keep working for increasing supply of commodities, ensuring compliance with price controls, securing sufficient strategic stocks of staples, and lowering the prices of some commodities, the spokesman said.

Speaking at a press conference following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that the load shedding system which Egypt has been resorting to to balance the demand and supply of electricity nationwide, was suspended today in order to know the exact fuel needs.

He noted that the government is experimenting on the ground to find out the precise daily fuel needs of power station

Madbouly added that today's experiment is not related to suspending the load-shedding program, but it will continue to gauge the State's needs.