The head of the Petroleum Products Division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, Hassan Nasr, announced that the current local and global oil markets indicators are increasing expectations of a rise in Egypt’s gasoline and diesel prices.
In a statement to the Cairo 24 news website, the head of the Petroleum Products Division said that fuel prices in Egypt may witness an increase of about 10 percent – equivalent to one pound in gasoline prices.
Nasr noted that the Central Bank of Egypt has moved to liberalize the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound, and the decline in the value of the pound, which may lead to an increase in the cost of importing fuel, in addition to an increase in the global price of energy.
The government’s pricing committee is scheduled to issue its decision during the month of March, he said, noting that its last meeting in November ended with raising the price of gasoline of all types and stabilizing the price of diesel to the following:
- Octane 80 at LE 10 per liter
- Octane 92 at LE 11.5 per liter
- Octane 95 at LE 12.5 per liter
The committee concerned with following up and implementing mechanisms for implementing pricing of petroleum products on a quarterly basis made the decision after studying the global and local market, he said, alongside analyzing the global, local and regional variables affecting fuel prices.
Nasr added that the two most important factors impacting the cost of making these products available and sold in the local market are the global price of a barrel of Brent crude and the exchange rate of the dollar against the pound – in addition to other fixed burdens and costs.
