Imran Khan praises Egypt’s support for Pakistan’s initiative of debt relief for developing countries

CAIRO - 30 April 2020: In a phone call with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan praised Egypt’s support for Islamabad’s international initiative to provide debt relief for the developing countries to fight the outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Pakistani Prime Minister also commended the Egyptian-Pakistani relations, said Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi in a statement, noting that both leaders tackled the medical efforts of combating the COVID-19 outbreak.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi expressed Egypt’s keenness to push forward prospects of bilateral cooperation at all levels, particularly the economic one, Radi added.

Egypt, which sees an increasing number of the COVID-19 cases, has requested a financial package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the Rapid Funding Tool program (RFI) and the SBA program.

This package is to enhance the state’s capabilities to face the new COVID-19 virus crisis, in a proactive step based on the successful implementation of the economic reform program, said Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli in a press conference on Sunday.

The Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that 226 people in Egypt tested positive for the COVID-19 recently and 21 people died, bringing the total number reported cases and deaths to 5,268 and 380 respectively.

As many as 1,712 people of the reported cases had their results come back negative, including 1,335 people who fully recovered.

Also, 31 cases, all of them Egyptians, left hospitals after they recovered, according to the instructions of the World Health Organization (WHO).

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ordered Tuesday providing all needed medical supplies to the quarantine and isolation hospitals all over the country.

Since mid-March, Egypt has taken certain strict measures to protect the public from the spread of coronavirus pandemic. The government has taken gradual steps in dealing with the coronavirus spread, starting with suspending schools and universities, and international flights.

Furthermore, a night-time curfew has been imposed since March 24, 2020. Additionally, the Ministry of Awqaf [Endowment] extended the closure of the mosques and the places of worship nationwide until further notice.