Egypt is anticipating petroleum exports worth $7.950 billion in the fiscal year 2024-2025, down from $10.22 billion in the fiscal year 2023/24, the country's cabinet said in a statement on Wednesday.

Egypt's oil trade balance shifted to a deficit of $5.1 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2023/24 compared to a surplus of $1.7 billion in the same period a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday.

Oil exports plunged by $7.2 billion to $4.6 billion in the July-March period, with natural gas exports declining by $6.2 billion and oil products by $1.2 billion, as the North African country grapples with power cuts due to natural gas shortages.

Since July last year, load shedding linked to falling gas production, rising demand and a shortage of foreign currency has led to scheduled two-hour daily power cuts in most areas.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Moamen Atallah, writing by Yomna Ehab. Editing by Jane Merriman and Elaine Hardcastle)