Global Market, the newspaper of record at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, has awarded Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait the best finance minister in the Middle East and North Africa Award for 2019.

The award is granted according to a poll of 25,000 of policy makers worldwide including central bank governors, finance ministers, and private sector and international corporation representatives.

Maait was granted the award for his work on improving Egypt’s macroeconomic signs which has led to a push in the Fitch and Moody’s credit ratings, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper said that Maait has succeeded in decreasing public debt to the GDP due to his policy on restoring financial control and rearranging expenditures.

It also stated that Egypt has achieved the financial objectives of the economic reform programme it adopted in 2016 and supported by the IMF.

The banks now have more room to lend the private sector, growth has been stimulated, and government debt has decreased, all key macroeconomic reforms that have restored balance in Egypt’s economy.

Maait will be handed the award in a celebration held in Washington on 19 November on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the WB and the IMF.