Sunday 22 Dec
Egypt anticipates that the recent increase in electricity prices will result in savings of approximately 30 billion Egyptian pounds in the state budget during the current fiscal year, 2024-2025, according to a government official who spoke with Bloomberg Al-Shorouk.
The official's statements to
Al-Shorouk come after the government raised electricity prices last week by
percentages ranging from 14% to 40% for households using prepaid meters.
Additionally, prices for the commercial sector increased by 23.5% to 46%, and
for the industrial sector by 21.2% to 31%, effective from the beginning of
September.
The electricity price hike comes
a month after the government intervened to address a power outage crisis caused
by a shortage of the necessary petroleum products. Egypt experienced rotating
power cuts for up to three hours daily from the end of Eid al-Fitr until July
21 due to a gas shortage. This situation has now been resolved following the
procurement of liquefied natural gas and fuel oil shipments worth approximately
$1.2 billion.
The Egyptian government had
initially planned to implement the new electricity price increases at the
beginning of July but decided to postpone them for two months, with the
increases now taking effect from September 1.
Electricity is not the only service to have seen price increases this year. Previously, the prices of train and metro tickets were raised by 25% and 33%, respectively, immediately after the government increased fuel prices for the second time in less than a year by 10% to 15% in July. This move is expected to generate savings of around 36 billion Egyptian pounds.
