(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) CAIRO, June 29 (KUNA) -- Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Thursday that the government decided to raise fuel prices was part of State reforms.
Speaking at a news conference after the Cabinet endorsed the fuel prices' hike, the prime minister indicated that his government was seeking to shift some of the subsidies to the limited-income citizens.
Without these "hard measures," the subsidy volume for the fuel may swell to 150 billion pounds, "and this figure is unbearable," he said.
Subsidy in the new fiscal year (2017-2018) budget reached will reach 333 billion pounds, as compared to the current 270 billion pounds, the prime minister said.
The budget deficit in the current year reached 10.8 percent, he said, however the premier indicated that the government would act to make it drop by 9.1 percent.
The prime minister Ismail added that there were no plans to raise costs of public transportation, now.
For his part, Minister of Petroleum Tareq Al-Mulla indicated that the government was seeking to save 35 billion pounds.
The Egyptian government, during Thursday's session, decided to raise prices of fuel, petroleum and gas products, effective today. (USD=18 Egyptian pounds). (end) hdr.rk
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