Egypt’s natural gas crisis will end this month: Sisi

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi promised on Sunday that the natural gas crisis facing the country will end this month, state owned MENA reported on Sunday.

“I promise all the investors that operate their factories with natural gas that they will not face any more shortages by the end of November,” Sisi said in an educational conference organised by the Egyptian military in Cairo.

“We ended the power crisis in one year and a half, and we now have enough for investment and industrial activities, as we added six thousand megawatts to the national electricity network. By December 2016, we will be adding four thousand megawatts and another 10 thousand megawatts by May 2017,” El-Sisi said.

“All these new projects will cost us EGP 150 billon,” El-Sisi added.

The country’s energy sector, that has been experiencing a crunch since the summer of 2008, took a blow following the 2011 uprising as arrears to foreign oil firms accumulated and production slowed.

‪The country garnered some $40 billion in energy deals during an economic development conference held in March in Sharm El-Sheikh as part of the government’s plans to boost an economy battered by more than four years of political upheaval.

‪”Also, by the end of this month, the state will intervene to cut commodity prices appropriately. I’m fully aware how Egyptians are living and I’m taking into consideration the hike in prices of basic commodities,” he said.

‪El-Sisi also said that the dollar crisis would not lead to rise in commodity prices.

Egypt is also facing a currency crisis due to what many economists consider to be an overvalued pound.

‪”The armed forces will also intervene and resolve the issue by releasing commodities that are reasonably priced,” El-Sisi said.

‪During the conference, El-Sisi also criticised the media over its treatment of various crises in the country, most notably last week in Alexandria when floods left five dead, as well as majorly disrupting daily life.

‪”I heard a media personality saying that the president was holding talks with representatives of foreign companies while Alexandria is sinking. Speaking like that is totally unacceptable. We can’t deal with our problems this way,” he said.

source: Ahram Online