Egypt’s fuel subsidies have jumped by 34 percent in the fist half of the 2017-18 fiscal year, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla announced on Wednesday, rising to EGP 51 billion ($2.9 billion) from EGP 38 billion.

“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 2017-18 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.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online