Written by: Fatima Younis
The Media Center of the Cabinet issued a clarifying statement regarding the circulating statements attributed to the Prime Minister concerning electricity load shedding for periods ranging from six to eight hours daily, confirming that this information is incorrect and taken out of its original context.
Clarification of the context of the Prime Minister's statements
The statement clarified that the circulated remarks were part of the speech delivered by Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, during a session titled "The Egyptian Energy Path: National Achievements and Future Horizons." The goal of the intervention was to review a set of scenarios and options proposed to deal with the challenges resulting from rising energy prices, without there being any announcement of an actual decision to implement load shedding.
Scenarios for dealing with rising energy costs
The Prime Minister reviewed three main scenarios for facing the rising cost of energy; the first scenario involves passing the full cost increase to citizens, an approach followed by many developed and developing countries. The second scenario is based on the state bearing the entire increase in costs, a path that requires massive financial resources or resorting to borrowing to cover these financial burdens.
Budget challenges and energy needs
Regarding the third scenario, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly indicated the possibility of maintaining the current financial allocations specified in the budget, while purchasing petroleum products according to the new prices and within the limits of available resources. He explained that this option might lead to meeting only about 50% or 60% of citizens' needs, which may force the state in the future to resort to more difficult measures, including the possibility of electricity load shedding for certain periods.
