The International Monetary Fund (IMF) intends to approve a disbursement of $820 million to Egypt as part of the third installment of an $8 billion loan. This comes in conjunction with the Egyptian government’s decision to raise fuel prices. Masrawy reported that the IMF’s Executive Board is expected to meet soon to finalize this approval after a delay from the originally scheduled date in July due to unmet preconditions.
Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, head of the IMF mission in Egypt, mentioned that the meeting was postponed because some required procedures were not completed in time. It’s worth noting that over the past decade, the Egyptian government has announced several increases in fuel prices, starting in June 2014, which saw a 50% hike across all types.
Recently, the Egyptian government decided to raise the prices of various types of gasoline and diesel. For instance, the price of Octane 80 gasoline was increased from 11 to 12.25 Egyptian pounds per liter, a rise of 1.25 pounds. Similarly, the price of Octane 92 gasoline rose from 12.5 to 13.75 pounds per liter, and Octane 95 from 13.5 to 15 pounds per liter. Diesel and kerosene prices also saw an increase of 1.5 pounds per liter.
The government has been restructuring its subsidy system, focusing on petroleum products and electricity, as these subsidies previously consumed about 20% of the total budget for social protection and support. However, it has been highlighted that the benefits of these subsidies have not effectively reached the intended recipients.
