Sherif Ismail, the former Egyptian prime minister, who served during the tenure of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, passed away on Saturday at the age of 67.
The president wrote on his Facebook page, “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.”
Ismail was sworn in as prime minister in 2015 before resigning in 2018 as Sisi started his second presidential term after winning a resounding victory over one of his supporters.
Sisi claimed that the former prime minister took charge under the most trying conditions and during the most trying periods.
Ismail led a period of challenging economic changes that resulted in a sharp devaluation of the currency in late 2016 and subsequent subsidy reductions linked to a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Since taking office in 2018, Mostafa Madbouli, a former housing minister, has overseen further economic reforms, a new IMF loan, and a significant devaluation of the national currency.
