Egypt’s EFCBC sees construction costs to rise 8% on fuel subsidy cuts

The latest round of fuel subsidy cuts in Egypt are expected to push up construction costs, said an official in the Egyptian construction and building federation (EFCBC).

The construction costs in various project will rise between 5-8 percent, Shams El-Din Youssef, an EFCBC committee member in the EFCBC, told Amwal Al Ghad on Saturday.

“The federation, in collaboration with the government, had already formed a committee designed to study the impacts of the fuel price changes on the costs of implementing construction projects.” Youssef said.

The committee, which includes officials in the Ministry of Housing as well as representatives in the EFCBC, the National Authority for Potable Water and Sewage, and other government entities, started its studies on the impact for the years of 2017 and 2018, he added.

“The studies showed that the fuel subsidy cuts during 2018 contributed to a significant increase in the construction costs ranging between 8-10 percent,” the Egyptian official said.

Egypt government increased fuel prices on Friday in its latest round of subsidy cuts under a reform programme agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) back to 2016.