The Egyptian government has moved to postpone implementing the new electricity price hike originally scheduled to take effect in early July, for two more months.
The new prices will now be applied starting from September 1st at the latest, according to a government official who spoke to the Asharq Business website on condition of anonymity.
Egypt has been experiencing rolling power cuts since the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, with electricity being cut for up to three hours a day in different areas.
This is due to a shortage of natural gas, a situation that has met with public outrage.
In an attempt to address the crisis, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that the power cuts would soon come to an end, confirming that the load shedding plan would be discontinued from the end of July.
Madbouly also revealed that US$1.18 billion had been allocated to provide the necessary fuel products for power plants.
The official told Asharq Business that the postponement of the new price hike was due to the ongoing load shedding crisis affecting all subscribers and the extension of power cuts to three hours a day.
The decision was made in coordination between the Cabinet, the Ministry of Electricity, and the relevant authorities, he said, with the aim of alleviating the burden on citizens until the situation stabilizes.
The Ministry of Electricity previously raised electricity prices for different consumption brackets by 10 percent to 22 percent in early January, after postponing the hike three times in a row.
