It was a rare example of Egypt doing something that pleased economists. On July 5th fuel prices rose as the government removed a portion of its generous subsidy. The price of a litre of the most commonly used petrol rose by 41% to 2.6 Egyptian pounds ($0.36); the price of a cubic metre of compressed natural gas, used mainly by taxis, rose by 175% to 1.1 pounds. Despite the odd protest and much resentment among the poor, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's new president, appears to have pulled off a reform long urged by the imf and long postponed by previous presidents. Mr Sisi seems determined to fix Egypt's economy. It has struggled during the past three years of political turmoil, which turned off investors and caused tourism to collapse. Earlier this month he refused to sign the budget until the finance minister cut the planned deficit for the coming fiscal year from 12% to 10%. Whether the new sums add up is not clear, but already this year Egypt has introduced a tax on stockmarket gains and plans to bring in value-added and property taxes too.
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