LE37 billion had been saved in 2019 due to lifting subsidies (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's Fuel Automatic Pricing Committee is currently considering decreasing fuel prices by 20 to 30 percent in its next meeting — scheduled to be held by 1 April and slated to review fuel prices in light of global fuel prices — according to an informed source who spoke to Ahram Online on condition of anonymity.
The source added that in line with the state’s efforts to alleviate the harsh impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak on the national economy, the government intends to take action to mitigate the burdens on Egyptian citizens.
In addition, the committee is considering the aftermaths of the three percent interest rate cuts that Egypt’s Central Bank introduced recently, and which were a double-edged sword, in that some parties benefited from the action while others were harmed.
The source added said that the committee will complete its report in the last week of March to arrive to decisions 1 April.
In July 2019, Egypt’s government issued a decree forming the committee which is responsible for setting fuel prices according to global prices, and for reviewing these prices every three months. In the same month the government lifted fuel subsidies entirely, after raising fuel prices five times since 2014.
In October 2019, the committee decided to cut the price of all gasoline types by 25 piasters per liter.
The price of Octane 80 was reduced to EGP 6.5 per liter, while Octane 92 was set at EGP 7.75, and Octane 95 stood at EGP 8.75, also trimming the price of the industrial-use mazut by EGP 2.50 per ton to reach EGP 4,250.
At that time, the committee announced that its decision came in light of a decrease in Brent oil prices on the global market between July and September 2019 to stand at $62 per barrel, in addition to the dollar’s depreciation against the Egyptian pound to an average of EGP 16.60/USD.
Egypt’s petroleum ministry spokesman Hamdy Abdel Aziz told Ahram Online that the prime minister will ratify new prices after submitting the committee's recommendations to the ministers of petroleum and finance, adding that global and domestic challenges will be taken into account.
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