The Egyptian government is facing increased pressure to reduce fuel costs following the sharp decline in global oil and gas prices, as well as the fall in the US dollar after the war on Iran started in late February. Citizens and workers in industrial and agricultural sectors, and members of parliament, have all pushed for a decrease in fuel, gas and electricity prices.
The development comes as Egypt is tied to its obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which states it must complete energy sector reforms and reduce subsidies before receiving around $1.6 billion after a seventh review is completed.
The growing debate over energy prices comes amid public and parliamentary demands that the government honour its pledge to reduce prices after raising them at the start of the recent tensions in the Gulf.
In March and April, the government took the decision to increase fuel, gas and electricity prices in response to soaring global energy prices.
However, despite global prices returning to pre-crisis levels, the price of production has remained high in Egypt, resulting in the higher prices of goods, services, food, fertilisers and construction materials.
With economists and energy experts stating they forsee a gradual reduction in domestic production costs, the Egyptian government too has expressed a keeness in easing the burden on citizrns, whilst also meeting its economic targets. Geopolitical concerns Mohamed El-Behy, a board member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said that when the crisis erupted, Brent crude exceeded $120 per barrel while liquefied natural gas climbed to around $18 per million British thermal units, amid fears that the Strait of Hormuz could be closed and energy supplies disrupted.
El-Behy said that after the ceasefire was announced and shipping resumed as normal, those concerns eased and markets calmed.
Brent crude fell below $75 per barrel, almost 40% below its peak, while natural gas prices also dropped significantly as supplies stabilised.
El-Behy told The New Arab that despite electricity prices hikes for household, industrial and agricultural users increasing by more than 30% and fuel prices more than doubling for some industrial sectors, reversing those increases would neither be immediate nor easy.
He added that despite the current period of calm, continued military tensions and Israel's war on Lebanon and Gaza continue to fuel geopolitical instability in the region, prompting the government to wait until conditions remain stable for a longer period.
El-Behy stressed that the government should review the high fees imposed on fertiliser exports and some energy-intensive industrial products, to enable factories to make profits that would help them withstand rising domestic costs driven by higher operating expenses, wages and taxes.
He also said Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly should honour the statement made at the height of the crisis, where he said the government would reassess fuel prices if global markets stabilise and oil prices decline. Repeated price increases Cairo has approved two rounds of energy price increases, most notably in April 2026, when the price of one litre of 80-octane petrol rose by around 15 percent.
That was followed by another increase in electricity prices ranging from 10 per cent to 30 per cent, with larger increases for commercial and industrial activities.
The increases have had a rapid effect on transport and production costs, and have also had a knock-on effect on the prices of food, vegetables, fruit, consumer goods and construction materials.
Farmers have expressed frustration over the continued record-high fertiliser prices, while traders said transport and production costs had not fallen enough to allow prices to return to previous levels.
El-Behy explained that falling global oil prices do not automatically translate into lower domestic fuel prices because petroleum product costs are also linked to transport, refining, shipping and exchange rates.
However, he noted that a sustained decline in global markets would give the government room to reassess prices.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim El-Qalyoubi, a professor of petroleum engineering and energy, said the government had previously committed to reviewing prices once markets stabilised. Debate reaches parliament The debate over fuel, electricity and fertiliser prices has quickly moved from the streets to parliament.
In a recent Agriculture and Irrigation Committee meeting centred on the fertiliser crisis, committee chairman El-Sayed El-Quseir said the issue had become a direct food security concern, warning of ongoing fertiliser shortages, distribution delays and rising prices on the open market.
El-Quseir called on the government to review the matter and address oustanding problems and tighten oversight of the black market.
The committee summoned the ministers of petroleum, agriculture, supply, industry, finance and investment to meet next week to develop urgent solutions .
Economist and member of parliament Reda Abdel Salam also called on the government to reduce petrol prices by around EGP3 ($0.061) per litre.
In a parliamentary statement, he argued that "the exceptional circumstances the government relied upon to justify raising prices no longer exist with the same intensity".
Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture has grappled to contain the criticism.
Mohamed Sheta, head of the ministry's Central Administration for Directorates, said the subsidised fertiliser distribution system was operating at full capacity and supplies were being distributed at the official price without additional charges.
Omar El-Degwy, secretary-general of the Egyptian Association of Fertiliser Distributors and Traders, said open-market prices had already fallen from nearly EGP30,000 per tonne to around EGP24,000 but remained above global prices.
He said the fair price was around EGP22,000 per tonne, noting that farmers purchase between 40% and 50% of their needs from the open market, making continued high prices a direct burden on agricultural production costs. Pressure on fertiliser companies In a notable reversal, fertiliser companies that generated substantial profits during the months of war and regional tensions are now facing a different kind of pressure.
During the crisis, Egyptian urea export prices climbed to around $835 per tonne, benefiting from supply disruptions.
However, as tensions eased, global prices fell back below $500 per tonne, reducing company profit margins.
Experts say declining profits for companies that still purchase domestically supplied gas at high prices prompted the government to abolish the fixed export duty of $90 per tonne and replace it with a variable levy equal to 10% of the shipment value from the beginning of July 2026, giving exports greater flexibility in responding to global market fluctuations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum maintains that the fertiliser industry continues to perform strongly.
An official statement said stable gas supplies had increased factory operating rates to more than 90%, while Egyptian urea exports reached around $9.4 billion in 2025, representing annual growth of 7.4%. IMF calculations Finance and investment expert Wael El-Nahhas believes the government is delaying any broad reduction in energy prices as it prepares to receive the next tranche of its IMF loan.
According to official data, the reform programme includes continued liberalisation of fuel , gas and electricity prices so that the energy sector operates according to market mechanisms, alongside a reduction in petroleum subsidy allocations in the new budget.
At the same time, the government is considering expanding its hedging programme to cover around 65 per cent of its imports of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas to protect the budget from future price shocks.
While members of parliament, farmers and manufacturers are calling for lower global energy prices to be reflected in meaningful domestic reductions, the government has so far preferred to focus on ensuring the availability of subsidised fertilisers, continuing its hedging programmes and awaiting the next review by the automatic pricing committee. Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .