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(CNN)—Alaa Mubarak, son of late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, responded to statements by former Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali about the current price hikes and inflation, and that former President Mubarak is responsible.

Youssef Boutros Ghali, who spent several years abroad after the January 2011 revolution, said that 'the current price hikes are being paid for by Mubarak, who rejected my proposal to lift subsidies on gasoline,' according to his statements.

In a TV interview with journalist Lamis El-Hadidi on Friday evening, Youssef Boutros Ghali added, in response to a question about what mistake led to the current outcome: 'I was concerned with the economy. I don't think the source of the 2011 events was the economy; there were other sources and reasons, not the economic situation...'

The former finance minister continued: 'Surely our economic team made mistakes, and among the things we should have done at the time was energy pricing. We did not lift subsidies on energy prices. Had we gradually raised energy prices by 5% back then, we would not have been forced to raise them now by 20% or 50% at once. I was among the first to say that raising energy prices was necessary, and President Mubarak rejected my proposal to raise diesel prices.' He added: 'The current political leadership has the courage to make difficult decisions because they see the necessity of making them, and that is the best thing today. The president has vision and ambition, and if a difficult decision is placed before him, he will take it if needed. That is an advantage of the current era,' according to his statements.

In response to these statements, Alaa Mubarak wrote in a post on his official account on platform 'X', formerly Twitter: 'Even you, Brutus?!! Et tu, Brute? Strange talk and even stranger timing!!' as he put it.

The son of the former Egyptian president added, addressing Youssef Boutros Ghali: 'And after your safe return to the homeland after a long absence, thank God for your safety. May God have mercy on you, Mubarak.'

Youssef Boutros Ghali, who left Egypt during the events of the January 25, 2011 revolution that toppled Mubarak's regime, heading to London where he holds British citizenship, faced charges of embezzlement and squandering public funds. A verdict was issued in absentia sentencing him to 30 years in prison in June 2011.

Egypt had announced that it officially began procedures to request Ghali's extradition after his arrest in France by Interpol, based on a notice issued by Cairo for his arrest to enforce judicial rulings against him.

However, the then-director of Interpol in Egypt, Major General Magdy El-Shafei, said that Ghali is internationally immune and cannot be extradited to Egypt because he holds a political asylum document in Britain.

After Youssef Boutros Ghali faced a number of accusations in cases including the 'customs case' and 'license plates case,' in which he obtained acquittals in 2022 and 2023, he was appointed to the Specialized Council for Economic Development in Egypt in August 2024.