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Egypt's cabinet reshuffle focuses on economy, strengthens Islamist inclination
[Xinhua] Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi swore in nine new ministers in a partial cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, including some key economic portfolios.Morsi described the reshuffle as a new step to complete the development of the public performance in Egypt and aims at injecting new blood to improve the standards of services provided to citizens. In a presidential statement, he urged citizens to give an opportunity to the reshuffled government to work on meeting their demands and to face up to the challenges. MORE ISLAMISTS INTO CABINET The reshuffle brings more Islamist-oriented members into the cabinet, including Finance Minister Fayyad Abdel-Monem Hassanin, a professor of economics at Al-Azhar University, and Minister of International Cooperation and Planning, Amr Darrag, who is a senior member of Moslem Brüderbund (MB)'s political arm the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Both ministries are important in handling negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 4.8-billion-U.S dollar rescue loan which is believed to be crucial to the revival of Egypt's ailing economy. New faces in the 35-member cabinet also include Investment Minister Yahya Hamed, a MB member; Ahmed al-Gizawi, an FJP member which will lead the Agriculture Ministry; and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Sherif Hadara, an engineer believed to have close ties with the MB's group. Posted by: Fred 2013-05-08 |
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