On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi inaugurated a newly reshuffled cabinet, featuring fresh faces in key positions such as finance and foreign ministers. This comes as the government grapples with a range of challenges, from the ongoing Gaza conflict to economic difficulties and frequent power outages.
A month ago, when the previous cabinet resigned, Sisi retained Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and emphasized the need for the new government to concentrate on reducing inflation, regulating markets, and enhancing investment. Ahmed Kouchouk, previously the deputy finance minister, was sworn in as the new finance minister, tasked with steering the economy through its current difficulties and managing the growing debt burden.
Egypt's sovereign dollar bonds saw a positive reaction on Wednesday, particularly the longer-dated issues. The 2047 maturity bond increased by 1.96 cents to trade at 75.16 cents on the dollar by 11:24 GMT. In the foreign ministry, Badr Abdelatty, Egypt's ambassador to the European Union, succeeded Sameh Shoukry, who had been instrumental in Egypt's diplomatic efforts to mitigate the effects of the Gaza war.
Other key appointments included Karim Badawi as petroleum minister, Mahmoud Esmat as electricity minister, and General Abdel Majeed Saqr as defence minister. The ministers in Egypt operate with limited autonomy, as real power lies with the presidency, military, and security services.
Rania Al Mashat, formerly the minister of international cooperation, was reappointed to the role of minister for planning, economic development, and international cooperation. Sherif Farouk, the chairman of Egypt Post, assumed the position at the supply ministry, responsible for managing wheat imports, a significant area given Egypt's status as one of the world's largest wheat importers.
Farouk is also expected to oversee the reform of the extensive food subsidy program, which supports over 60 million people. In recent years, Egypt has faced a chronic foreign exchange shortage and high inflation, leading to speculation about potential changes at the top. However, earlier this year, Egypt secured a major investment agreement with the United Arab Emirates and expanded loan programs with the IMF. Additionally, on Tuesday, an announcement was made regarding a new high-end development project on the Mediterranean coast.
