The dust has yet to settle since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that the government is lifting energy subsidies, leading to a price increase of up to 78 percent on gasoline and 175 percent on natural gas. As the country continues to witness a public backlash and price hikes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued on Thursday a report, Subsidies Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa: Recent Progress and Challenges Ahead, in which it recommends how to best implement energy subsidy reforms in the region. 

Writing about the report, Assistant Director at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Svetlana Milbert writes:

On Egypt:

Table 1. Breakdown of Price Increases on Select Petroleum Product in Egypt

Petroleum product	Price increase	Price change	Consumed by
80-octane gasoline	EGP 0.90 to EGP 1.60 per liter	78 percent	Old vehicles
92-octane gasoline	EGP 1.85  to EGP 2.60 per liter	41 percent	Most vehicles
95-octane gasoline	EGP 5.85 to EGP  6.25 per liter	6.8 percent	Luxury vehicles
Diesel	EGP 1.10  to EGP  1.80 per liter	64 percent	Public transportation/ trucks
Natural gas	EGP 0.40  to EGP  1.10 per cubic meter	175 percent	Taxis

Read Milbert’s article on MENASource here.