Written by: Basant Al-Farmawi
The Media Center of the Cabinet denied the authenticity of the circulated statements attributed to Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, regarding a decision to reduce electrical loads for periods ranging from 6 to 8 hours daily, confirming that this news is incorrect and has been taken out of its proper context.
The statement explained that the reference to these time periods occurred during the Prime Minister’s speech at a session titled "The Egyptian Energy Journey: National Achievements and Future Horizons," where the goal of the discussion was to review a set of scenarios and options available to deal with the challenges resulting from rising global energy prices, rather than announcing executive decisions that had already been taken.
Scenarios for dealing with rising energy costs
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly reviewed three potential paths to address the increase in energy costs. The first scenario involves burdening citizens with the full increase in costs, an approach followed by many developed and developing countries. The second scenario is based on the state bearing this entire increase, an option that requires the availability of sufficient financial resources or relying on borrowing to cover the resulting financial burdens.
Clarification regarding the load reduction scenario
Regarding the third path, the Prime Minister explained that it relies on adhering to the financial allocations previously determined in the general budget and purchasing petroleum products according to new prices and within the limits of available resources. He noted that this scenario might lead to meeting only about 50% or 60% of citizens' needs, which may require resorting to more complex measures, including the possibility of reducing electrical loads for certain periods.
The Media Center emphasized that the mention of load reduction came within the framework of a hypothetical analysis of scenarios to face rising prices, and did not include any official confirmation of the start of applying these measures for the durations mentioned in the circulated rumors.
