President defends austerity measures

CAIRO — Egypt’s president zealously defended his economic policies on Sunday, saying he was left with no choice but to embrace painful austerity measures to revive an economy mauled by years of political turmoil and violence.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was speaking at a youth conference a day after he expressed his displeasure over recent online postings urging him to step down over the economy. He said he was “upset” over the posts, which he said were inappropriate.

The #Sissi—leave hashtag surfaced this summer following steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of austerity measures designed to overhaul the economy, still recovering from years of turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising.

El-Sissi was first elected in 2014, a year after he led the military’s ouster of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist who was freely elected but whose one year in office proved divisive.

He has also overseen the largest crackdown on dissent in Egypt’s recent history, jailing thousands of Islamists as well as some secular pro-democracy activists, and rolling back many of the freedoms won following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The economic reform program has won el-Sissi lavish praise from Cairo’s western backers and bankers. The policies, however, have made more difficult the plight of a majority of Egyptians who are now forced to cope with steep price hikes.