The
Ministry indicated that, in line with the state's commitment to addressing
social concerns and alleviating the burden on citizens, the state is directing
the largest portion of subsidies to diesel, butane gas, and 80/92 octane
gasoline to ease the burden on citizens. It is worth noting that the state
imports approximately 40% of diesel consumption, 50% of butane gas consumption,
and 25% of gasoline consumption. Therefore, the daily subsidy borne by the
state, based on the announced prices, due to the gap between the prices and
actual costs borne by the state for various gasoline, diesel, and butane gas
products, amounts to approximately EGP 366 million per day, equivalent to EGP
11 billion per month.
The Ministry added that despite the recent decline in
the price of Brent crude and global prices, this decline has resulted in a
slight decrease in the cost of a liter of diesel, estimated at only about 40
piasters. Consequently, a gap between the selling price and the cost remains,
taking into account market expectations for the coming period, given the
instability of petroleum product prices due to global geopolitical and economic
tensions, as well as developments in production, transportation, and import
costs.
It should be noted that previous price adjustment
decisions were made on October 18, 2024 (six months ago), to ease the burden on
citizens. The Ministry also confirmed that changes to current prices will not
be considered for the next six months.
Within the framework of the first axis of the Ministry’s strategy to stabilize the local market’s supply of petroleum products, it continues to work successively to increase local production and provide several incentive packages to production partners with the aim of maximizing local market production to reduce the import bill and the total cost of the products.