President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday he was committed to pushing through the reforms necessary to turn the economy around and cut public debt, days after Egypt negotiated a USD12 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Successive governments have shied away from cutting subsidies, but Sisi said experience would not deter him from pushing through painful reforms. "The first effort at reform came in 1977, and when it was not accepted by the citizens, all the governments hesitated to make reform efforts, afraid of the reactions," Sisi said. "It is not only you who will judge me. God will also judge and so will history ... All the difficult decisions that many hesitated to take over many years, that they were afraid to take, I will not hesitate to take for one second." Sisi also said that a bloated public payroll had contributed to the country's deficit and hinted at looming increases in the cost of riding Cairo's underground trains. He also promised that programmes were underway to protect the poorest from the impact of impending reforms. (Reuters)