Automatic fuel pricing to start in April with Octane 95

CAIRO - 7 January 2018: Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek al-Mulla told Reuters on Monday that automatic fuel pricing will start in April to be applicable on Octane 95 only.

The minister said that the price is expected to either remain the same or change by 10 percent up or down.

Mulla added that an ad hoc committee will be formed in the first quarter of 2019 to determine and follow up on the automatic pricing mechanism, and to review the fuel price formula to be used in the mechanism.

In June, Octane 95 prices went up from LE 6.6 ($ 0.37) per liter to LE 7.7, while 92 octane gasoline prices amounted to LE 6.75 instead of LE 5 per liter. Prices of Octane 80's liter increased to LE 5.5 instead of LE 3.65.

The price of diesel became LE 5.5 a liter instead of LE 3.65, while the price of natural gas used for vehicles rose to LE 2.75 per cubic meter instead of LE 2.

The price of the cooking gas cylinder rose to LE 50 instead of LE 30 and the commercial gas cylinder's prices surged to LE 100 instead of LE 60.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

The country has floated its currency in November 2016 before it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF loan helped the state’s foreign reserves to rebound by receiving the first three tranches of the loan with a total value of $6.08 billion.