As part of the economic reform plan, the state subsidies for petroleum products will be completely suspended by 2019, the minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tariq al-Mulla announced on Wednesday. In the same press conference, he also announced that the application of fuel smartcard will also be suspended. He further explained that the total subsidies on petroleum and natural gas have amounted to 517 billion EGP during the last 5 years, which could be hence used to help those who are truly in dire need of this money. However, it is not clear how the government is planning on providing this assistance. This announcement comes after a hike in fuel and cooking gas prices which occurred last Saturday, also as a part of the austerity measures that the government has undertaken as part of the 12-billion-dollar International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Saturday fuel and gas price surge was more than a 60% increase. The authorities have also increased drinking water prices by 45 percent, and the electricity prices by 26 percent in the last few weeks. As a direct consequence of the Saturday price hike, public transportation fares have…
