Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has talked through the country's various challenges, during his visit on Wednesday to Abadia in Beheira governorate. He said that the initial cost of the Decent Life initiative was between EGP 200-250bn, and it increased to EGP 350bn in the first phase. The president said that the initiative's three phases will cost more than EGP 1trn. "We have been going through a crisis three years ago, which began with the Coronavirus pandemic, and it had a great impact on the world and Egypt, but we did not stop, and when the Russian crisis occurred, it also had a great impact on Egypt and the global economy, and slowed our work down, and caused dramatic price hikes," Al-Sisi said. The president noted that in the past three years, the population of Egypt has increased by about 6 million people, noting that "Egypt managed, thanks to God and the security and peace that it enjoys, to host 9 million guests [migrants and refugees]." "During the past seven weeks, as a result of the circumstances that occurred with our brothers in Sudan, more than 220,000 people entered Egypt. Millions of people from countries that are facing instability, came to Egypt, they live among us while we are going through difficult circumstances. We could have refused their entry, but we did not. They study in our schools and receive treatment in our hospitals, and we share what is available -which is not much-, but we share it together," the president explained. Al-Sisi further mentioned that his administration is trying to mitigate the effects of the crisis that the country has been suffering from for three years. He noted that the state is doing well in the industrial sector because it provides a good opportunity in terms of providing work and supplying the domestic product, in addition to saving dollars in the case of exports and achieving sufficiency in the case of non-exports. Meanwhile, the president said that everyone has the right to disagree with him, but everyone has to work. "You have the right to disagree, but work, don't be stubborn," Al-Sisi said to his opponents. Moreover, Al-Sisi witnessed the activities of the National Youth Conference, in Alexandria. The conference is considered a forum for direct dialogue between the state and its various institutions and the youth. A large number of young people are participating in the conference. Regarding the economic reforms and the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar, Al-Sisi stressed that Egypt has already adopted a flexible exchange rate regime. "The exchange rate of the USD against the pound is a matter of national security. We can't stand still and watch the Egyptian people suffer due to the exchange rates. What will happen if the exchange rate of USD reaches EGP 50 or EGP 60? Further depreciation of the pound is not the solution to our financing gap," the president emphasised.
