Hashtag calling on Egypt’s Sisi to abdicate tops Twitter trends

The Arabic hashtag “Leave Sisi” has topped the list of trends on Twitter over the past few days, with Egyptians using the social networking platform to call on Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to stand down after he announced another increase in fuel prices.

Earlier, the government pricing committee announced domestic fuel prices would rise by 0.75 Egyptian pounds ($0.02) for 80-gasoline, one pound ($0.03) for 92-gasoline, and 0.75 pounds for 95-gasoline, while keeping the price of diesel unchanged.

The committee said the increase was necessary due to “the fluctuation of Brent crude prices and the exchange rate of the pound against the US dollar.”

The committee said the price of diesel for purposes other than electricity and bakery use will be 6,000 pounds per tonne ($194.6).

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Since March 2022, the value of the Egyptian pound has fallen by about 50 per cent against the US dollar.

The acute shortage of dollars led to a reduction in imports and the accumulation of goods in the ports, which negatively impacted the domestic industry. Prices of many basic food commodities have also increased.

Meanwhile, annual urban inflation rose to 25.8 per cent in January, the highest level in five years, according to official data.

Estimates put Egypt’s poverty rate at 60 per cent.

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