Egypt's present Abdel Fatah El-Sisi (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt’s newly-elected president has asked Egyptians to walk more in order to save money.
"If you're driving a car you will pay around LE4 for every 20/25 km, and Egypt will pay LE8, meaning if I could walk or used a method like this [cycling], then in a day I will be giving Egypt LE16. Imagine if 3,000 people decided to do that," said Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi during a speech on Friday morning.
The speech came during a cycling marathon in Cairo called for by former army chief, which he described as symbolising the possibility "for us to unite around one goal."
Around a fifth of Egypt’s state budget is devoted to subsidising energy, at an estimated cost of LE130 billion for the 2013/2014 fiscal year. The government aims to trim the fuel subsidy bill in the coming fiscal year to LE104.5 billion.
Friday was not the first time El-Sisi has urged Egyptians to tighten their belts.
In a March speech, he asked Egyptians to be realistic about their spending and "to think of what they had given their country before they have their breakfast.”
"Did anyone think I should walk to university every day, to save something for my country?" he asked his audience of young doctors and recent graduates.
Short link: