A new cabinet headed by newly appointed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly was sworn in before Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday, including new ministers for the key defence, interior and finance posts, state TV reported. The new cabinet replaces that of former PM Sherif Ismail, which submitted its resignation to President El-Sisi last week, following his swearing-in for a second term as president on 2 June. The newly appointed PM Madbouly, who served as the housing minister in Ismail's cabinet, was tasked last week by El-Sisi to form the new cabinet. The new cabinet includes 12 new ministers out of a total of 32. The foreign, justice, investment and tourism ministers all retained their positions, as did some economy-related ministers including those of supply and planning. Mohamed Ahmed Zaki was named minister of defence, succeeding Sedki Sobhy, who held the post for more than four years, while Mahmoud Tawfik was appointed minister of interior, replacing Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar. The new PM Madbouly, who has been seen as a top-performing minister, will retain the portfolio of housing minister in addition to heading the cabinet. Deputy Finance Minister Mohamed Maeet was appointed finance minister. He replaces Amr El-Garhy, who oversaw the finance ministry during a period of painful economic reforms aimed at stabilising an economy that has struggled since the 2011 uprising. The reforms include fuel and electricity subsidy cuts, the implementation of a value-added tax and a currency flotation. Amr Nassar, who served as the secretary-general of the Engineering Export Council of Egypt EEC, was named minister of trade and industry. Assistant Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy and Assistant Health Minister Hala Zayed were both appointed ministers in their respective ministries. Other appointments included new ministers for communications, agriculture, civil aviation, environment, local development and public sector enterprise. The new cabinet has seen the addition of two new women ministers for the environment and health portfolios, bringing the total number of women in this government to eight. Fifteen new ministry deputies were also appointed in the new government, including new deputies for the finance, electricity and housing ministries.
