FORMER Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail, who served during President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s first term in office, died Saturday at the age of 67.

“I mourn with deep sorrow a virtuous man among Egypt’s best, a man in whom the nation’s conscience was embodied, the former prime minister, the honourable Dr Sherif Ismail,” the president wrote on Facebook yesterday.

Sherif was sworn in as prime minister in 2015 before resigning in 2018 as Sisi began his second presidential term, after a landslide victory against one of his supporters.

According to Sisi, Sherif “assumed responsibility in the most difficult of circumstances and the hardest of times”.

Sherif oversaw a period of tough economic reforms that in late 2016 saw a steep currency devaluation followed by subsidy cuts tied to a US$12 (RM51) billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Former housing minister Mostafa Madbouli has served as prime minister since 2018, himself overseeing further economic reforms, another IMF loan and a steep currency devaluation over the past year. – AFP, February 5, 2023.