Egypt changes key govt posts for Sisi’s second term

cairo — Egypt appointed a new government on Thursday, replacing several key ministers as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi pushes ahead with tough economic reforms and seeks to improve security.

Cairo, Washington’s key regional ally, is set to enact more tough IMF-backed austerity measures in coming years in efforts to bolster investment and create jobs in an economy that was battered by unrest after the 2011 Arab uprisings.

The cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly who was appointed last week following Sisi’s virtually unopposed election to a second term in April, includes new ministers of defence, interior, trade, finance and agriculture.

It is the broadest government shake-up since Sisi was first elected in 2014, a year after he overthrew a freely elected Islamist president as chief of the armed forces.

The IMF-driven measures are to include cutting fuel subsidies, a move likely to upset large sections of the population that are already struggling to make ends meet.

Egypt is also trying improve security, with its military battling Daesh insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.

Sisi supporters say the country is safer than it has been for years and hope that economic reforms and greater stability will lure back crucial foreign investment and tourism.