Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Saturday that “we should realize that Egypt is facing a big economic problem, which is not the first, and we have to deal with it in a transparent way.”

"Confrontation is the best solution rather than deferring problems to the coming generations," he said in his speech at the monthly National Dialogue for Youth.

"Developing education, for example, needs huge financial resources," he said, adding that amid a budget deficit, “we are facing a problem in improving services.”

After covering the debt service, only 200 billion pounds remain from the budget to be spent on education, transport and health, he said.

“We will not be able to provide our basic needs if things go on this way,” he said. “We will not be able to take loans from the local banks and the foreign reserves will be eroded,” he added.

“So, it was not possible to wait, but it was necessary to carry out economic reforms,” he said, adding “it was not possible to find solutions that satisfy all people. The matter is difficult.”

The prime minister stressed the importance of luring investments and expanding national projects to provide job opportunities.

Source: MENA