Sisi directs gov. to implement economic reform program

CAIRO - 10 May 2018: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asserted on Thursday the importance of taking all measures required to implement the economic reform program, Presidency Spokesman Bassam Radi said.

This came during the president's meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer.

The president also called for continuing efforts aiming at reducing the public debt and increasing the cash reserve as well as taking into consideration the most needy persons.

Sisi also directed the government to make the small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs initiative cover the whole country in order to reduce the percentage of unemployment among youths and raise the standard of living as well as increasing the gross domestic product and the Egyptian exports.

This comes after the recent reports issued by the International Monetary Fund and a number of economic institutions that hailed Egypt's economic reform program.

During the meeting, Amer reviewed the latest developments concerning allocating EGP 200 billion to the SMEs, noting that 62,000 enterprises were funded at a cost of EGP 70 billion.