Sisi tells Egyptians to bear with economic pain, says mega-projects provide jobs
PRESIDENT Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Egyptians that they were still able to eat and drink despite soaring prices as he defended mega-projects he said provided millions of jobs. Egypt's long-running foreign currency shortage risks deepening because of lost revenues from the Suez Canal, and this month has triggered store closures and new restrictions on credit card withdrawals. Inflation has eased slightly from record highs last year but is still running at over 30%. Sisi blamed the lack of foreign currency on Egypt's decades-old import dependency, which he said required spending of $1 billion a month on staples like wheat and vegetable oils and another $1 billion on fuel.…
