Egypt and its fragile economy have been acutely impacted by the US-Israeli war against Iran. Soaring energy costs in the country are adding pain to an ongoing gas crunch. The government has ordered power rationing across the capital and is encouraging some to work from home to save energy. As the energy crisis intensifies, Cairo is continuing its push to spur more domestic upstream activity to stem sinking production and improve its energy security. War in the Mideast Gulf drove overall monthly energy costs in Egypt from $1.2 billion in January to $2.5 billion in March, according to Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. That includes a tripling of gas import costs since the war began on Feb. 28 from $560 million per month then to $1.65 billion today, he said. Emergency measures include cutting fuel allocations for government vehicles by 30% and enforcing earlier closing hours for commercial outlets. Major projects heavily reliant on gasoline and diesel use have been delayed for at least two months. Diesel prices have surged from $665 per ton prewar to $1,665/ton currently. Egypt consumes around 24,000 tons of diesel per day, which means the country paid about $750 million more for supplies in March, Madbouly says. Foreign investors are spooked — reports citing the Central Bank of Egypt say an estimated $8 billion has been withdrawn from the local debt market, weakening the Egyptian pound, which has fallen to a record low against the dollar.
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