Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has defended his government’s latest austerity measures aimed at rebuilding the country’s ailing economy, amid a wave of arrests since his re-election.

The government has raised the price of piped drinking water and electricity by up to 42 percent as part of an economic reform program designed to qualify for a three-year $12 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which it secured in 2016.

Al-Sisi said late on Tuesday in televised comments that the government spends a total subsidy bill of $18.6billion annually, adding :”We have to pay the price together”.

The tough austerity measures which also involves sending fuel to power-starved Gaza Strip has hit the poor and especially middle-class Egyptians very hard.

Egypt has intensified its crackdown on dissent since el-Sisi’s re-election in the March vote in which he faced no serious challengers.