Egypt: Gas canister trial to star

From next month, citizens in Giza will use ration cards when they buy subsidised gas canisters; if successful scheme may be rolled out countrywide.

Egypt authorities will hand out ration cards for cooking gas [2]in Giza governorate at the start of November in the first test for a new distribution system before it is introduced nationwide.

Governor Ali Abdel Rahman announced the move on Saturday, according to the state-owned MENA news agency. Egypt's government has long promised a shake up in the system of distributing butane gas, sold to the country's consumers at vastly reduced rates. [3] Loopholes in the system have previously allowed smugglers and profiteers [4] to take control of supplies and sell them to the black market. Proponents of a ration card system claim it will stop such activities. A total of 91,549 cards will be distributed at the beginning of November from over a dozen depots across the governorate, MENA reported. Gas canisters will continue to be sold at LE5 ($0.80) The director of supplies in Giza, Mahmoud El-Hosni, said the government was working to raise public awareness of the system via announcements by places of worship and local government.