The country is on track to overcome the economic crisis according to new Finance Minister Al-Morsy Al-Sayed Hegazy. Hegazy made the statement on Friday following a meeting with United States Ambassador Anne Patterson. The minister pointed to human resources and high efficiency as pillars that would boost production and bring the country back to stable economic growth rates, saying the end of Egypt's transitional period would bring further stability. Hegazy additionally pointed out that a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was set to arrive in Cairo “soon” to continue working out a deal that would bring a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt, saying that an agreement with the IMF would be based on economic and social reform, intended to lighten the burden on low-income segments of society and boost public services. Patterson reiterated the US's continued support for Egypt and said the two countries had many avenues through which they could increase economic cooperation through trade and business. She pointed to Egypt's “economic potential” as something that would enable it to overcome the current economic turmoil. The IMF delegation visited Cairo earlier this month and voiced its continued support for Egypt's recovery. The two sides had reached a preliminary agreement in November. However it was suspended in December due to politics surrounding the constitutional referendum. Hegazy was one of ten new ministers sworn in last week as part of a cabinet reshuffle, replacing Momtaz Al-Said. Hegazy was a public finance professor at Cairo University with an academic interest in Islamic finance before he accepted his new post.
