Egypt expects $1.6bln in fuel savings after recent price hike

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Arab Finance: The Egyptian government is expected to achieve EGP 80 billion in fuel savings by the end of the current fiscal year (FY) following the recent hike in fuel prices by 11% to 17%, a government official told Asharq Business.

The country’s petroleum product subsidies bill rose after the recent increase in crude oil prices globally, the official said, adding that the pricing decision came to fill in the gap between the selling price and the significant cost increase over the past period.

He noted that diesel subsidies make up 70% of annual petroleum products subsidies.

The country consumes EGP 18 billion liters of diesel annually, providing around EGP 6.5 in support for each liter, as per the official.

It is worth noting that fuel subsidies reached EGP 39.3 billion during the first quarter of this FY, another official said earlier.