Egyptian president 'upset' over online calls for resignation

Egypt's president says he is "upset" over recent online postings calling on him to step down over the country's troubled economy.

An angry Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in televised remarks aired yesterday that the postings are inappropriate since he has been working hard to pluck Egypt out of its economic crisis.

The #Sissi_leave hashtag followed steep price hikes for fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of austerity measures designed to overhaul the economy, still recovering from years of turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising against longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

El-Sissi was first elected in 2014, after the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

The general-turned-president has since launched multi billion infrastructure, development and housing projects.

He won a second term in March, following a harsh crackdown on dissent.