Ahmed Abu Ismail (1915–2013) was an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

economist and politician who served as minister of finance in the 1970s.

Early life and education

Ismail was born in

Samannud Samannud ( ) is a city (''markaz'') located in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Known in classical antiquity as Sebennytos (), Samannud is a historic city that has been inhabited since the Ancient Egyptian period. As of 2019, the population of the '' ...

in March 1915. He hailed from a wealthy middle-class family. He attended the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and obtained a PhD in

transport economics Transport economics is a branch of economics founded in 1959 by American economist John R. Meyer that deals with the resource allocation, allocation of resources within the transport sector. It has strong links to civil engineering. Transport ec ...

in 1938.

Career

Following his graduation Ismail worked at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and returned to Egypt in 1948. Then he worked at an Egyptian university. He established the college of commerce of

Kuwait University Kuwait University (, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29/1966. The university was of ...

in 1968. Ismail supported a liberal economy approach and harshly criticized the inefficiency of the Egyptian

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

. Although Ismail acted as the leader of opponents of the public economy policy implemented by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

, he was appointed finance minister on 16 April 1975, replacing Mohammed Hamdi El Nashar in the post. The cabinet was led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mamdouh Salem Mamdouh Mohamed Salem (, ; May 7, 1918 – February 24, 1988) was the 39th Prime Minister of Egypt from April 16, 1975 to October 2, 1978. Biography Salem was born in Alexandria, Sultanate of Egypt. He served as governor of the Asyut Govern ...

. Ismail adhered to a liberal economic approach, but he was an advocate of the price control and the increased level of subsidies to improve the

economy of Egypt The economy of Egypt is a developing country, developing, mixed economy, combining private enterprise with centralized economic planning and government regulation. It is the second-largest economy in Africa, and List of countries by GDP (nominal ...

when he was in office. Ismail's tenure ended on 19 November 1976 when he was dismissed due to his opposition over the policies imposed by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. The Economy Minister Zaki Shafei was also removed from office on the same date due to the same reason. Mohammed Salah Eldeen Hamid became finance minister replacing Ismail in the post. Then Ismail was named as the head of the

Far East Bank Far East Bank was a bank in Hong Kong which has since merged into Bank of East Asia. Far East Bank was founded in 1959 by Mr. Deacon Chiu (), the founder of Far East Holdings. It started as a qianzhuang (native bank) in Tsuen Wan by collecting ...

in Cairo and served at the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a member of the

New Wafd Party The New Wafd Party (), officially the Egyptian Wafd Party and also known as the Al-Wafd Party, is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. It is the extension of one of the oldest and historically most active political parties in Egypt, Wafd Part ...

Death and legacy

Ismail died in May 2013 and was buried in his hometown, Samannud. A district in Samannud was named after him in September 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Ismail, Ahmed 20th-century Egyptian economists 1915 births 2013 deaths Ministers of finance of Egypt Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of London Academic staff of Kuwait University Members of the Parliament of Egypt New Wafd Party politicians People from Gharbia Governorate Liberalism in Egypt