Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s fuel subsidies decreased by 28% in the first nine months of fiscal year 2018/2019, the petroleum minister said.

Egypt spent EGP 60.1 billion ($3.5 billion) on fuel subsidies from July 2018 to last March, compared to EGP 84 billion in the same period of FY17/18, Tarek El Molla told Reuters.

The North African country allocated around EGP 89 billion for fuel subsidies in FY18/19 budget, while it aims EGP 52.9 billion in subsidies in FY19/20 budget scheme.

“Egypt has been reducing fuel subsidies as part of an IMF-backed reform programme that began in 2016, and is due to remove subsidies on most energy products by June,” according to the news agency.