Egypt has drastically raised fuel prices to tackle a bloated subsidy system in a potentially unpopular move that might blow back on newly elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
With the country's economy battered by three years of unrest, successive governments have argued that subsidies that allowed Egyptians to buy petrol at some of the world's cheapest prices must be lifted.
Ex-army chief Sisi, elected by a landslide in May, has advocated austerity to narrow the budget deficit, and a severe law and order platform to rein in Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Morsi himself baulked at implementing the cuts to avoid stoking unrest but the military ousted the divisive leader anyway after millions took to the streets demanding his resignation.
With the main Islamist opposition decimated, Sisi appears set on leveraging his popularity to ram through politically risky measures.
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The government raised the price of 92 octane petrol from 1.85 Egyptian pounds ($A.39) a litre to 2.60 pounds, and 80 octane petrol from 0.90 pounds to 1.6 pounds a litre, the official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.
The price of diesel was raised from 1.1 pounds to 1.8.
The increase took effect at midnight Friday.
