LE 70B outcome of fuel price increment: PM

CAIRO 16July 2017: The outcome of increasing the prices of fuel and electricity did not exceed LE 70 billion ($3.9 billion), which is still not enough, as the state has paid between LE 85-90 billion for the social protection services during the past period, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Saturday.

This came during the prime minister’s discussions in a press conference about recent economic decisions.

The prime minister explained that the government is working to improve services and infrastructure development, all of which have achieved reforms and stability in the market.

“The current year has witnessed improvements, whether in terms of providing goods, solving problems of high school, supplying wheat without problems or regarding raising the price of sugar cane supply,” he also added.

The government increased in late June the fuel prices, where the price of 80-octane gasoline soared from LE 1.60 ($0.08) to LE 3.65 ($0.20) per liter, while 92-octane increased from LE 3.50 ($0.19) to LE 5.00 ($0.28) per liter.

New electricity tariffs also came into force last week, with increases between 18 percent and 35 percent across different consumption brackets.