Egypt's president says economic reforms are no 'picnic'

CAIRO — Egypt's president on yesterday defended the tough economic measures undertaken by his government, saying there was no alternative in the face of a financial crisis.

"Structural reforms" are an imperative for Egypt, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said during a speech in honor of the upcoming birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, while acknowledging that the newly implemented measures are no "picnic."

The government floated the Egyptian pound last month and slashed fuel subsidies, austerity measures taken in part to secure a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The pound lost about half its value, plunging to around 18 to the dollar, a huge setback in a country heavily dependent on imports ranging from food items to raw materials. With salaries remaining largely the same, nearly everyone in the largely impoverished country effectively experienced a sudden, large pay cut.

El-Sissi said bread subsidies, on which millions of people depend, would not be touched.

Foreign reserves jumped to $23 billion in November, up from $19 billion the month before, while inflation rose to 20.7 percent from 15.7 percent, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The austerity measures were hailed by the IMF and the business community, but could spark a popular backlash against el-Sissi, who led the military ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president three years ago amid mass protests against his rule.

"The decision to carry out reforms ... was not easy," el-Sissi said. "The task requires hard work and patience."

El-Sissi blamed the weakened economy on the years of unrest unleashed by the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years.

Since coming to power, el-Sissi has relied on billions of dollars of assistance from Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia. However, relations with the Sunni kingdom have become strained recently over several regional crises, including the conflict in Syria.

In the address yesterday, el-Sissi returned to the theme of religious reform. Since toppling President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 and launching a crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, el-Sissi has presented himself as a bulwark against Islamic extremism.

He criticized the minister for religious endowments for forcing pre-written Friday sermons on mosques earlier this year, which had sparked anger among clerics. He called for a committee in which clerics would sit side-by-side with sociologists and psychologists to draft a road map for reform for the coming years.

"Mohammed is killing Mohammed and Abdel-Rahman is killing Abdel-Rahman while shouting Allahu Akbar," he said, referring to jihadis who kill Muslims. "We can't leave the shaping of the real understanding of religion on a state level ... to the preacher."