New and familiar faces appointed to the reconstituted Specialized Council for Economic Development: Among those appointed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to the Specialized Council for Economic Development — one of four specialized councils created by El Sisi via presidential decree in 2015 — is former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali.

Dr. Youssef is one of the good guys, folks — a loyal civil servant who overhauled the state’s finances, built international belief in Egypt’s finances, and slashed taxes by half, and launched a valiant bid to make it cool to pay them. A generation of talented public servants still serving the nation came up under him. We’ve long been saying that it would be good to see him able to contribute once again to public life, so we’re chuffed with the news. Dr. Youssef was acquitted in 2023 of charges of profiteering while in office in a politically motivated case that dated to June 2011. He was also cleared in the so-called “license plate” case in 2022.

Also included on the list were our friends Karim Awad (Group CEO of EFG Holding) and Ashraf Sabry (CEO of Fawry). Former House Planning and Budget Committee head Hussein Issa will coordinate the group, which will also include former Finance Minister Hani Damian, Federation of Egyptian Industries Chairman Mohamed El Sewedy, and other figures from the world of academia, banking, and business.

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