Congress Party: Rise of fuel prices came too late

Cairo – Egypt’s Congress Party deputy chairman Hussein Abul Ata said on Friday that the recent decision taken by the Egyptian government to increase fuel prices came too late.

On June 29, the Egyptian government decided to hike fuel prices by nearly 50 percent to help meet the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan deal. Such price rise was sharper than expected by many Egyptian people who are struggling with soaring living costs.

Abul Ata told Al-Bawaba News that the price rise was expected in terms of the IMF deal, noting that the cut of fuel subsidies should have been applied at least 10 years ago. 

He explained that the party asked the Egyptian government to play its role for protecting limited-income citizens, but the only way to overcome the price rise is to increase production and resources of the state in the coming period. Abul Ata stressed that the economic reform steps taken by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi should have been made several years ago. 

Abul Ata added that El-Sisi is the only Egyptian president who dared to take economic reform decisions in a difficult stage, in which both Egyptian economy and citizens are suffering.