Cairo: Ali Lotfy, a prominent Egyptian economist who was prime minister under former president Hosni Mubarak, has died aged 82, state media reported on Monday. Lotfy passed away at a Cairo hospital Sunday night.
A funeral prayer was held for him at a mosque in a Cairo suburb before his burial.
Lotfy, an economics professor, was named a finance minister in 1978 in the era of Mubarak’s predecessor Anwar Al Sadat, who ruled Egypt for 11 years until 1981. Lotfy was a member of the Egyptian delegation that accompanied Al Sadat for signing the 1978 peace accord with Israel in the US resort of Camp David.
Mubarak picked Lotfy for the premiership in 1985, a post he held for more than a year. After leaving the premier’s seat, he was appointed the head of the Shura Council, an upper house of the Egyptian parliament. The council was scrapped in the 2014 constitution.Lotfy also headed a state commission responsible for licensing political parties.
He also worked as a professor and then chairman of the economics at Ain Shams University, a state-run institution in Cairo.
He has dozens of economic research and books to his name in Arabic, English and French.
He kept a low profile in the years that followed the 2011 uprising that forced Mubarak to resign.
President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi Mounday mourned Lotfy, saying that his life was “full of dedication and national work”.
A presidential statement added that Lotfy was “an inspiring example in serving his nation and dedication to work”. The statement praised him for noted efficiency in academic, economic and political fields.
In 1992, Lotfy was awarded the prestigious State Merit Prize for Social Sciences.
