Egypt's Sisi urges to solve structural problems in economic development

CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged the government on Wednesday to continue efforts to solve structural problems facing the Egyptian economy for decades, state-run MENA news agency reported.

Sisi's comments came during his meeting with Acting Premier and Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Finance Minister Amr al-Garhy.

Sisi said the Egyptian citizen should feel the positive outcome of economic decisions taken during the past period, MENA reported.

The Egyptian president urged for following up various financial and economic indicators and evaluating economic reform measures periodically to ensure that they meet financial targets.

The meeting also tackled the financial performance in the first half of the 2017/2018 fiscal year.

Egypt has been suffering economic slowdown over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security challenges, which led the country in late 2016 to start a strict three-year economic reform program including austerity measures, energy subsidy cuts and tax increases, in addition to local currency floatation to contain dollar shortage.

Despite causing price hikes and high inflation rates, the floatation of the Egyptian pound encouraged the International Monetary Fund to support Egypt's economic reform plan by a 12-billion-dollar loan, half of which has already been delivered to the North African country. Enditem