Will the trusty ‘anbooba’ be exempt from the upcoming fuel price hike? The government is currently studying the impact of exempting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders — most commonly used for cooking — from the upcoming fuel price hikes to help contain inflation, three government sources told EnterpriseAM. The sources stressed that the 1.2 mn LPG cylinders distributed daily by the government are sold at less than 30% of their actual cost, excluding distribution and transportation.

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We’ve been on the lookout for news of a price hike at the pumps, after a senior government source told us late last week that the government could raise fuel prices in the coming days as part of its plan to fully liberalize pricing and recover production costs. The government has kept fuel prices unchanged for the past six months since the last hike in April.

It looks like diesel will also be spared the planned price hikes — again in the interests of keeping inflation at bay. A government source told us late last week that diesel may also be excluded from the coming hike, with other petroleum products shouldering a larger portion of the increase.

The government is also thinking about converting its vehicles to run on natural gas in the interests of slimming down expenses. Authorities are now surveying all vehicles owned by government entities to convert them fully to natural gas, which is cheaper than gasoline or diesel, to reduce fuel expenses across the state apparatus, another source told us. The Finance Ministry’s General Authority for Government Services will oversee the conversion process to keep costs low.

REMEMBER- The government cut its fuel subsidy allocation to EGP 75 bn this fiscal year, down from the EGP 154.5 bn it spent last year.

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