Egypt will announce major stepstowards subsidy reform ahead of next month's presidentialelection, the country's minister of planning said on Wednesday.

Egypt's Finance Minister said last month that spending onenergy subsidies next year will be 10-12 percent above the 130billion Egyptian pounds ($18.6 billion) budgeted for in thecurrent fiscal year, unless immediate reforms are made.

"I am heading to Washington in the next few days to meetwith officials at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and theWorld Bank ... But it is not on our agenda to seek loans fromthose institutions, we want some technical support for thereforms that we are planning," Al-Arabai said.

The steps on subsidy reforms would be progressive and wouldtake care of the poorest in society, he said, without givingdetails.

Last year's energy subsidy bill was more than 120 billionEgyptian pounds, up from 115 billion the previous year.

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