Sisi: Egypt subsidies cut much-needed 'bitter medicine'

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Monday a decision to raise fuel prices was “bitter medicine” that should have been taken before, but was not as governments feared a backlash.

The authorities on Friday slashed state subsidies on petrol and diesel, sparking anger among taxi drivers and others affected.

“We have to take this bitter medicine,” Sisi said in a televised national address commemorating Egypt's military crossing of the Suez Canal during the 1973 war against Israel, which took place on the 10th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The ex-army chief, who toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 before himself being elected president by a landslide in May, has repeatedly advocated austerity to narrow the budget deficit.

The decision to cut fuel subsidies “has been delayed, it has been delayed for years”, Sisi said, adding that “all (previous) governments were worried to take it.”

The political turmoil unleashed by the ouster of strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has devastated Egypt's economy, badly hitting key tourist revenues and investment.