What's the Price of Gasoline in Cairo This Year?

And why does it matter?  We'll get to that shortly.

The pump price is 1.85 Egyptian Pounds per Liter and there is no shortage.



At today's exchange rate of 6.96 pounds to the dollar and 3.79 liters to the gallon we get $1.01 per gallon!  This is down slightly from last year, mostly due to the declining value of the Egyptian Pound.

Why does it matter?  I have talked to multiple friends who complain about the corruption in government and the billions of dollars that go into the pockets of the government officials or the military.  As it turns out, the Egyptian government spends fully 20% of its budget (perhaps $7 billion, perhaps $17 billion per year) subsidizing the cost of energy.

People will talk of amounts less than a billion or even up to several billion going to political factions but I have yet to hear anyone criticizing the many billions that go into their gas tanks.