Egypt’s government will start cutting fuel subsidies before it leaves office next year, Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi said on Sunday, but the ambitious reform hinges on an end to the country’s turmoil.
Beblawi’s government, installed by the military after it overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in July, contends with a determined Islamist protest movement that the prime minister accused in an interview with AFP of trying to create a “crisis” in Egypt.
According to a timetable, a referendum to vote on a new constitution within the next two months will be followed by parliamentary elections and presidential polls by the end of the summer.
Although long a demand of international lenders, no Egyptian government has sought to aggressively tackle the bloated fuel subsidy programme for fear of igniting unrest.
“It is unsustainable, the kind of subsidies we are incurring,” said Beblawi of the programme that eats up a fifth of the budget just on energy support.
“It is not only high but it is increasing. We have to face it squarely and make drastic decisions,” he said in the interview.
“I would imagine that this government before its mandate in the last two months should arrive to a programme for the coming five or seven years and try to implement the first phase,” he said.—AFP