On Monday, 7 May, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and members of the IMF board.

According to a statement released by the Office of the Presidency, President El Sisi “expressed appreciation for the fruitful partnership between the government and the IMF and the support that it has offered to Egypt’s national economic reform program.” He noted that the national economic reform program “demonstrates the state’s determination to seriously address chronic challenges from which the economy has suffered for long decades” and “seeks to significantly enhance the national economy, improve the Egyptian people’s standard of living and realize their aspirations for a modern state.”

President El Sisi further underscored “the state’s commitment to implementing integrated programs for social protection and caring for the neediest segments to alleviate the burdens they are enduring” and emphasized that the state is committed to “adopting more measures to realize social development, including efforts to empower women, improve health and education services and train the youth to assume leadership posts.”

For more information, see the Embassy’s factsheet, and below for the release from the Office of the Presidency.

President El Sisi Meets IMF Delegation

Today, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. David Lipton and members of the IMF board.

President El Sisi expressed appreciation for the fruitful partnership between the government and the IMF and the support that it has offered to Egypt’s national economic reform program. He noted that this partnership conveys a positive message to all investors and international financial markets about the seriousness of the economic reform program and the broad prospects that the Egyptian economy offers. The President affirmed that the economic reform program is an ambitious national program that demonstrates the state’s determination to seriously address chronic challenges from which the economy has suffered for long decades. He added that the program seeks to significantly enhance the national economy, improve the Egyptian people’s standard of living and realize their aspirations for a modern state.

Mr. Lipton commended the Egyptian economic reform experience and affirmed the courage of the Egyptian political leadership in adopting bold reform policies that alleviated the burden on Egypt and noticeably improved various economic indicators.  He affirmed the IMF’s keenness on continuing cooperation with Egypt and providing the necessary support for the economic reform program to succeed. The IMF board members offered an overview of development models in a number of countries such as Malaysia and South Korea. Egyptian officials in attendance also engaged in a discussion with the IMF experts on the Egyptian economic reform experience, measures that the government has adopted to overcome challenges that the program faces as well as the plan for cooperation between the government and the IMF in the coming period.

President El Sisi affirmed his sincere appreciation for the awareness of the Egyptian people and their deep understanding of the challenges that Egypt has faced in the past period and commended their endurance while addressing various challenges such as terrorism and economic burdens. The President affirmed that Egypt is on the right track and looks forwards to sustaining the stability of economic conditions, realizing rapid economic growth coupled with the creation of jobs and improving the business climate to ensure the Egyptian economy’s competitiveness and its ability to attract more investment. This is in addition to encouraging competition and assisting the growth of the private sector to access international markets as well as encouraging SMEs, entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives.

The President affirmed the state’s commitment to implementing integrated programs for social protection and caring for the neediest segments to alleviate the burdens they are enduring. This is in addition to adopting more measures to realize social development, including efforts to empower women, improve health and education services and train the youth to assume leadership posts.