Agencies
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi warned on Sunday that regional challenges could lead to “unbearable” economic pressure on the population and a review of internationally-demanded economic reforms. “If these challenges will make us put unbearable pressure on public opinion, then the situation must be reviewed with the IMF,” Sisi said at the Global Congress on Population, Health and Human Development in Cairo, as Egyptians brace for a new wave of inflation following fuel price hikes. Egypt has been embroiled in economic crisis since 2022. Dominated by military-linked enterprises and for years focused on expensive infrastructure mega-projects, the economy is almost entirely reliant on imports.
Foreign debt has ballooned, the currency has undergone several devaluations, with a resultant rise in inflation. The International Monetary Fund this year approved a $5 billion top-up to an agreed $3 billion loan for the Arab world’s most populous nation.
In turn, the Washington-based lender demanded wide-ranging reforms including, plans to boost the role of the private sector in the economy.
In what he said was a “message to US and to the relevant international institutions, the IMF and the World Bank”, Sisi warned of persistent “challenges”.
