Gov’t should conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the effect of raising electricity prices

The government needs to conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis on how raising electricity prices will affect the country’s economy as a whole, Medhat Nafei writes for Al Shorouk. The gradual phaseout of subsidies might actually do more harm than good in the grander scheme of things, since higher power costs might push some manufacturers to reduce their productivity, Nafei says. While he acknowledges the burden of the state’s hefty power bill, he suggests that the government should play nice with industries by implementing a different pricing scheme on their electricity consumption that will not cut into profits or production output.