During a presidential conference on 25 May, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi indicated that ongoing electricity cuts across the country are a necessary alternative to increasing power costs. “If the cost of electricity is one Egyptian Pound today, I would need to increase it to two or three Egyptian Pounds [to halt power cuts],” Al-Sisi stated at the conference “To keep the power on for 24 hours with no cuts, I would have to double or triple the price [for citizens] to match the true cost of electricity,” he added. Al-Sisi later highlighted that the government had set a plan dating back to 2016 that aimed at gradually increasing electricity costs to lessen government subsidization. However, global challenges that began with the COVID-19 pandemic and continue with the Russia-Ukraine war and war on Gaza hindered these plans, Al-Sisi explained. Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait also addressed the issue with live talk show host Lamees El Hadidi on 25 May, revealing that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources would require an additional USD 300 million (EGP 14.1 billion) per month to import enough energy to end systematic blackouts. Since the…
The post Egypt’s Electricity Cuts Continue So Prices Don’t Increase: Sisi first appeared on Egyptian Streets.
Source: egyptianstreets
