President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi directed the government to consider postponing the application of the smart card system for subsidized fuel purchases which was due to come into effect June 15, according to a Saturday presidential statement.
The postponement comes “to give the government more time to study sectors that are not covered by the new system,” said the statement.
“The card system will cover registered vehicles but tok-toks, motorcycles and agricultural tractors will not be covered” head of E-Finance Company that is in charge of issuing the fuel smart cards Khaled Abdel Ghany was quoted by Youm7.
The news system is aimed at curbing misuse of petroleum products and reducing Egypt’s energy subsidy bill, which accounts for 13 percent of government spending in the public budget for the 2014-15 Fiscal Year.
Using smart cards for distribution of subsided petroleum products will save 36 billion EGP ($4.717 billion) annually as a result of preventing oil smuggling, technical office Director of the Minister of Finance Nagy Ashkar told Youm7.
According to the new system, consumers will be able to buy a limited amount of subsidized fuel per day, beyond which they will have to pay market prices.
