Parliamentarian: Sisi saved the poor from economic reform negative effects

Chairman of the House of Representatives Arab Affairs Committee Ahmed Raslan said Monday President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has exerted great efforts to combat poverty and diseases and succeeded enormously as witnessed by major international finance corporations, mainly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), after having taken tough decisions as regards economic reform which saved the country from bankruptcy.

President Sisi saved the poor and the low-income people from the negative impact of economic reform through expanding the social protection nets. Egypt has also succeeded to fight Hepatitis C in a unique and unprecedented experience many world countries have called for its implementation, Raslan, who doubles as First Vice Speaker of the Arab Parliament, said in an address before the Global Parliamentary Summit organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and held for two days in Madrid.

Egypt strenuously seeks to reach food security and self-sufficiency in strategic crops through using the latest technology, modern agricultural machinery, guidance, planting new species and reducing harvest waste, he said.

He also referred to supporting rural women and female bread-winners.

"The majority of world peoples suffer from famine and malnutrition-related diseases which is worrisome to us as parliamentarians. Therefore, we have to exert utmost efforts to reach the sustainable development targets and achieve food self-sufficiency in areas suffering from famine," he added.