By Order of the IMF, the Regime Squeezes the Poor and Doubles Metro Ticket Prices

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Before the IMF delegation’s visit concluded, the regime did not hesitate to demonstrate its subservience by raising metro ticket prices from 2 pounds to between 3 and 7 pounds.

A 350% increase in a single stroke for a service indispensable to millions of people experiencing poverty.

The regime, which does not hesitate to strike daily at people experiencing poverty and the working class, did not wait for the new year or the beginning of the fiscal year to implement the general budget, nor did it wait for the holy month of Ramadan to end before preying on people experiencing poverty. It justified this by comparing metro ticket prices to those in other countries without considering the wage levels in those countries, which are multiple times higher than Egyptian wages.

The new attack launched by the regime today is just beginning. Naturally, the increase in metro ticket prices will lead to increases in the prices of other means of transportation as an initial consequence. Following the start of the new fiscal year in early July, a new surge in prices will occur due to the budget’s inclusion of fuel prices and increases in electricity, water, gas, and other services and utilities.

As the regime continues its successive attacks on the living standards of people experiencing poverty and the working class, only struggle remains the sole path to confront the policies of impoverishment and oppression. The regime does not even attempt to justify these policies; it merely tries to shield the ruling elite of judges, police officers, army personnel, ministers, and officials from their effects, leaving people experiencing poverty to bear the brunt of these policies alone.

The solidarity of people experiencing poverty and the working class and the development of their capacity to resist and struggle is the only way to confront these policies and defend the right to a decent life.