CAIRO, Feb 5, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - 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 Saturday.

Ismail 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, Ismail "assumed responsibility in the most difficult of
circumstances and the hardest of times".

Ismail oversaw a period of tough economic reforms that in late 2016 saw a
steep currency devaluation followed by subsidy cuts tied to a $12 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.