The president has responded swiftly to reservations about the new fuel subsidy smart card system.
The General Chamber of Petroleum Products, part of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, has welcomed the Egyptian president’s decision to postpone the fuel subsidy smart card system, which was slated to start operating on Monday, until all the sectors involved have joined the scheme.
Hossam Arafat, head of the chamber, said the president’s directives came earlier a report filed by the head of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce that included 33 reservations about the system that had been ignored by the Prime Minister.
Arafat added that the presidency was well aware of the necessary procedures to be taken to protect the interests of the Egyptian people without causing a crisis in the future, and this had been ignored by the Cabinet when they failed to respond to the chamber’s report on the fuel card system. Among these reservations were about sectors relating to the automotive industry not being annexed to the new system.
Arafat also said that the new smart cards system was acceptable in general, but the implementation mechanisms drew many question marks about its objectives.
