ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the general economic and public finance situation. It discusses various measures taken by the Egyptian government to reduce energy-related spending and increase energy-related revenues. Energy subsidies have been part of the informal social contract between political leadership and the population since the 1950s. The new leadership's main goal became to reduce energy costs in the budget and, at the same time, to increase Egypt's energy production. As such, the following three objectives received the highest priority: reforming the energy subsidy system, increasing gas production, and developing a nuclear power program. The question of whether and when Egypt can transform itself to a net gas-exporting country depends on how successful the Abdel Fatah el-Sisi Administration is in diversifying the country's energy sources. The Sisi Administration sees energy sector development as a panacea for economic problems in the Arab world's most populous country.
