A sudden shortage of gasoline gripped Egypt over the weekend, raising new concerns about its teetering economy and its political stability.
The state news media said the empty pumps and long lines were caused by hoarding, prompted by what were called false rumors of an impending increase in gasoline prices, which the government sets at artificially low levels through enormous subsidies.
The shortage comes at a time when the government is running out of money that it might use to increase fuel supplies, if only to dispel such panic. Egypt’s reserves of foreign currency, needed both to prop up the Egyptian pound and to keep fuel prices down, have dwindled to critically low levels.
The crisis began with the collapse of tourism and foreign investment, two vital sources of foreign currency for the country, after the revolts that ousted President Hosni Mubarak broke out a year ago.
With 40 percent of the population living below the poverty line, any potential increase in fuel prices, or in the price of other basic necessities caused by a fall in the exchange rate, could spur renewed unrest. Street protests are already a regular occurrence here, usually demanding the departure of the military rulers who took power from Mr. Mubarak.
Over the past three months, at least 80 demonstrators have been killed and hundreds seriously injured as security forces have tried to put down the protests.
Though gas stations across the country were turning away customers for lack of fuel, and long lines were forming at the ones that still had gasoline to sell, the Ministry of Petroleum issued a statement over the weekend asserting that the country’s fuel supply was still more than adequate to meet all public needs.
“In spite of that, it was recently noticed that there’s crowdedness around gas stations as a result of the rumors circulated about an increase in the prices,” the state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported. The government urged Egyptians “not to crowd around gas stations and not to listen to rumors,” which it said “only aim at stirring insecurity in the hearts of citizens.”
A rush on the pumps may have been sparked by the news this month that in order to conserve badly needed cash, the ruling military council planned to reduce the amount of natural gas and other commodities used by heavy industry.
But many economists have argued for years that Egypt’s heavy subsidies of energy for consumers were increasingly untenable, even before the current economic crisis began. Egypt spends as much as 10 percent of its gross domestic product subsidizing energy costs, even though the benefits flow disproportionately to affluent consumers who drive big cars and live in large villas.
