The float and rising interest rates may have increased the Electricity Ministry’s expenses by a whopping EGP 100 bn per annum, ministry sources tell Al Borsa. EGP 50 bn of this increase will come from the rising costs to import fuel and gas for power plants. Debt service will rise to EGP 40 bn (the sources don’t explain by how much), while the costs of the three Siemens combined-cycle power plants will rise by EGP 30 bn.

Meanwhile, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi instructed Power Minister Mohamed Shaker to make sure that the float won’t result in rising electricity prices for consumers, Al Shorouk reports, something Shaker promised on Sunday. Prices, however, will go up next fiscal year which begins in July, as part of the ministry’s five-year plan to cut power subsidies for anyone but lower tier consumers, ministry spokesman Ayman Hamza confirmed. The ministry is looking to cut subsidies on electricity by EGP 14.7 bn next year, almost half of this year’s EGP 30 bn bill, government sources tell Al Borsa.

Voting with their wallets: The pledge of no price rise before next summer comes as the Electricity Ministry has reportedly found 20% of consumers have not paid their October bill, with many openly refusing because inflation is eating into their wallets. Campaigns have sprung up calling on people to stop paying their power bills, according to Al Borsa.