Cairo: Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Esmail arrived Thursday night in Cairo, almost a month after he had left for Germany for medical treatment, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.
He flew home aboard an EgyptAir plane from the German city of Frankfurt, escorted by his family, MENA added.
Esmail was welcomed upon arrival by several officials, including Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Aviation Minister Sharif Fathi.
Esmail will spend a short period of convalescence following the “successful surgery” before he returns to work, the cabinet’s media office said without details.
On November 23, Esmail, 62, left for Germany to undergo surgery of the digestive system, a cabinet spokesman said at the time.
Later, President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi named Housing Minister Mustafa Madbuli to act as a premier until Esmail’s return.
Esmail, an ex-oil minister, took the premiership seat in September 2015. He has since occasionally travelled abroad for medical treatment.
Noted for his reticence, his name has been linked to tough economic decisions including the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016 and phased-out cuts in state subsidies on fuel.
The measures have secured Egypt a badly needed loan of $12 billion over three years from the International Monetary Fund. However, the steps have unleashed a spate of rises in prices of different goods and services.
The government has defended the measures as unavoidable in order to revitalise Egypt’s economy battered by the unrest following the 2011 revolt.
