Egypt prime minister defends fuel price hike

Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly said Tuesday that his government had to raise fuel prices to make sure local production continues and the economy remains stable.

Madbouly said during a cabinet meeting that the government faced a choice between maintaining current fuel prices — a move that would have imposed heavy costs on the state — or raising them to shield industrial and business operations from the repercussions of the U.S.–Israel war on Iran.

Even with the increase, he said, Egypt is still absorbing “significant costs.”

“We took these decisions during exceptional circumstances,” he said, adding that they can be “revised” after the war is over, confirming that Egypt is better positioned to confront this crisis than it was during previous ones.

Egypt hiked fuel prices by up to 17% on Tuesday as the Iran war sent oil prices soaring.

According to the Petroleum Ministry, the cost of a liter of diesel, which is heavily relied on for public transport, increased by more than 17%.

The price of the 92-octane gasoline rose by 15% and 95-octane gasoline increased by 14%.

The Iran war has hit Egypt hard.

As the most populous Arab country, Egypt depends heavily on imported fuel.

The Egyptian pound fell to a record low, trading at over 52 pounds to the U.S. dollar on Monday.

To mitigate the impact of the war, the government announced a series of measures, including reducing official overseas trips and tightening fuel consumption across sectors.