Egypt's Ministry of Finance on Sunday approved the allocation of US$300 million for the Petroleum Public Authority (PPA) to finance diesel fuel and butane gas imports from abroad.
The announcement came after a shortage of diesel fuel that hit the Egyptian market. Vehicles that run on diesel, such as tractors and microbuses, crowded into Egyptian gas stations, and disputes among drivers left at least 20 people injured.
The ministry said that on Sunday, it told the Central Bank of Egypt to allocate the money.
However, the PPA had recently demanded the allocation of US$600 million to buy petroleum products to fulfill its needs until the end of June.
Mohamed Shoeib, head of the PPA, said the authority didn't reduce the governorates' shares of diesel and that the diesel shortage, which occurred in a number of governorates, resulted in fuel being smuggled abroad.
Shoeib said on Saturday, border guards arrested three boats transferring smuggled diesel fuel to Syrian and foreign ships.
