CAIRO, Jul 9 (Aswat Masriya) – Egyptian  president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Saturday the importance of reducing the public debt and increasing the foreign exchange reserves, according to a statement by the presidency.

Sisi discussed Egypt’s economic situation during a meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer and Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy.

Sisi urged that any remedial action by the government should take the low-income earners into account, as he emphasised the importance of stabilising the prices of basic goods and ensuring their availability.

Presidency spokesman Alaa Youssef said that Sisi reiterated Egypt’s commitment to repaying its debt in a timely manner.

Earlier in July, Egypt’s central bank repaid $1 billion to Qatar, which constituted the last installment of a $3 billion debt, in addition to repaying $700 million to the Paris Club nations.

During the meeting, Amer discussed the country’s plan to increase its foreign reserves on the short term, while Garhy reviewed efforts to achieve structural reforms in order to maintain financial stability and reduce the budget deficit.

Egypt’s budget deficit soared to EGP 311 billion (around $25 billion) during the period between July 2015 and May 2016, constituting 11.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the country's net foreign reserves reached $17.546 billion at the end of June, up from $17.521 billion at the end of May.

Egypt has been witnessing a foreign currency crisis due to pressures on its reserves as a result of a weakening tourism sector in addition to the decline in Suez Canal revenues.