WHEN Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s authoritarian president, called for change in September, it was sadly not an appeal for political reform. Rather, Mr Sisi was asking for his citizens’ spare piastres (each worth less than a cent) in order to fund development projects. Given the scale of Egypt’s economic problems, and the state of most peoples’ finances, the idea was widely mocked on social media. “It’s getting embarrassing,” went one tweet.
Though he often paints himself as Egypt’s saviour, Mr Sisi, a former general, has struggled to come to grips with an economy buffeted by terrorism and political upheaval since the revolution of 2011. High unemployment (over 12%) and soaring inflation (over 14%) have eroded his popularity. Polls can be fuzzy in Egypt, but one conducted by Baseera, a local pollster, shows Mr Sisi’s approval rating dropping 14 points in the past two months.
It is likely to slump further. After dithering for over two years, Mr Sisi is finally enacting painful but necessary economic reforms. In October the government instituted a value-added tax to raise revenue. This month it went even...Continue reading
from Middle East and Africa http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709971-abdel-fattah-al-sisis-reforms-will-make-him-unpopular-can-he-stand-it-sense-and?fsrc=rss
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