Egypt to ration fuel subsidies in April

Egypt will begin to reduce fuel subsidies in April, the country's minister of petroleum and mineral resources said on Monday. Osama Kamal said the system would be based on electronic 'smart' cards and would form part of the reform package intended to gain a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Subsidies currently cost the government $18 billion. "We are working, as part of the programme, to implement it at the beginning of the new financial year (in July)," Kamal said in an interview with Egyptian television channel CBC. The Egyptian economy has continued to suffer after two years of instability following the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The economy has seen a flight of currency as investors and locals move Egyptian pounds in to US dollars, with Qatar providing much needed liquidity in January.