The government has approved a plan to gradually remove electricity subsidies within five years, Egyptian Minister of Electricity said in a press conference on Thursday.
Mohamed Shaker said that the removal of subsidies will appear in the prices of consumption as of this July.
The minister explained that the subsidies on electricity for the 2014/2015 fiscal year is estimated at 27.3 billion Egyptian pounds and it will be reduced to 20 billion Egyptian pounds the year after.
Egypt has been preparing its citizens for strict austerity measures such as subsidy reductions  in order to control the public debt and allow for deeper reforms of the ailing economy.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pledged to give up half of his salary and property after he pointed to the continuing deterioration of Egypt’s economic situation.
“If we continue to subsidize electricity in this manner, that would lead to a real disaster,” Shaker said.