Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Madbouly set out the reasons behind the increases, which saw fuel and gas prices rise by between 14 percent and 30 percent effective Tuesday.
The prime minister said the government will introduce several social protection measures to ease inflationary pressure expected from the fuel hikes, including a raise in the minimum monthly wage, which he said will be announced next week.
He warned that legal action, including referral to the military prosecution, would be taken against anyone found hoarding goods or exploiting the crisis to inflate prices.
The cabinet attributed the move to escalating regional conflict, as the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its eleventh day, driving sharp rises in energy prices and unsettling global markets.
Madbouly noted that the government is monitoring the complex economic repercussions of the ongoing conflict, which has disrupted global supply chains, including oil.
He emphasized that while the state had developed proactive contingency plans, the conflict’s duration and its resulting strain on global supply chains have far exceeded international expectations.
Addressing the scale of the pricing challenge, Madbouly detailed the "unprecedented surge" in oil prices that has upended global fiscal calculations. Crude prices jumped from the $60–$70 range to a peak of $120 before recently stabilizing near $93.
This, he added, creates a fiscal gap compared to the $61 benchmark adopted by the state last October, representing a price hike of over 50 percent in a very short window.
The prime minister stressed that while Egypt maintains strategic reserves and forward contracts for gas and fuel, these agreements remain tied to global pricing formulas.
This volatility has placed "exceptional pressure" on the state budget, he pointed out.
He stressed that the government opted to raise fuel prices to secure supplies for the electricity, industry, and housing sectors, ensuring that the production wheel would not stop.
Madbouly said the decision was taken in response to investors' and factory owners' demands, who warned of the severe negative effects of machines stopping work.
Additionally, Madbouly affirmed that despite these raises, the state continues to bear the lion’s share of these price differences to shield citizens from the full impact of global inflation.
He noted that the government never intended to raise fuel prices and had initially planned to stabilize prices for a full year. Still, the severity of the global crisis necessitated this proactive intervention to protect the pillars of the national economy.
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