The government intends to postpone the introduction of fuel smart cards until the first quarter of the next fiscal year, beginning in July, a government source told al-Shorouk newspaper.
Planning and International Cooperation Minister Ashraf al-Araby has recently announced, that smart cards would be distributed to citizens at traffic departments across the country by the end of April.
The source, according to al-Shorouk, said the distribution of the cards was scheduled to be carried out in four phases, noting that only the first one was completed in February, covering the provinces of Ismailia, Suez, Port Said and Damietta.
Egypt had embarked on the smart cards system in a bid to curb fuel smuggling, which tirggered chronic shortages. At the same time, it adopted an economic plan that aims at lifting all subsidies for energy products within five years.
