Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt has spent around $30 billion on oil subsidies in the past five years, the petroleum minister said.
The North African nation will maintain cutting oil subsidies as it weighs on the country’s general budget, Reuters reported, citing Tarek El-Molla as saying on the sidelines of an Arab energy conference in Marrakesh.
Egypt would save money from phasing out subsidies that could be spent on improving public services, he indicated.
The minister pointed out that subsidised oil encourages fuel smuggling, as oil is sold at a market price averaging from 75% to 80% of the cost price.
The Egyptian government decided to raise natural gas prices by up to 75% as of 1 August.
This comes within the framework of the economic reform programme currently executed by the Arab world's most populous country in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a three-year loan worth $12 billion.
