MPs joust for position after fuel price hike, float of EGP
The House Economics Committee called on the Ismail cabinet to reverse its decision on raising fuel prices, Al Mal reports. The committee announced that it will review the adverse impacts of raising fuel prices following a meeting yesterday. The House Energy also demanded that the government not raise prices on 80-octane petrol, recommending that it begins implementing the fuel smart cards program. These objections come as a number of political parties have endorsed the EGP flotation and rising fuel prices. Among these was the Free Egyptians Party. The party’s parliamentary bloc chief and chair of the House Human Rights Committee Alaa Ab issue a stern warning: if the Ismail cabinet does not show progress in its quarterly update on the status of the reform agenda, then it must be replaced, Al Borsa reports. The Support Egypt coalition also came out strongly in favor of these policies and praising the Supreme Investment Council’s 17 incentives announced last week. Chair of the House Budget Committee MP Hussein Eissa described last Thursday’s decisions as a golden opportunity, but called on the government to do more by way of implementing cash subsidies and reducing imports by 30%.
Also yesterday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Magdi El-Agati stressed that it would be “quite impossible” for the government to backtrack on last week’s reforms, Essam Gamal El Din reports for Ahram Online. The minister’s come as a “small, left-leaning” group of MPs were scheduled to meet yesterday for last week’s “disastrous” moves to be rolled back and for the Ismail government to be sacked, the paper reports.