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Public Finance Challenges: Debt, Public Spending and the Budget Deficit - A Conversation with Egypt’s Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk '99
Details
Amid ongoing economic and fiscal reform efforts, the Alternative Policy Solutions is hosting Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Ahmed Kouchouk '99, in a talk entitled “Public Finance Challenges: Debt, Public Spending, and the Budget Deficit” on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, from 6:30–8:00 PM at Oriental Hall, AUC Tahrir Square.
The event will discuss Egypt’s ongoing fiscal and budget reforms, and whether they support macroeconomic stability and foster growth. How can social justice be achieved while ensuring the sustainability of state finances under the burden of debt?
The discussion will be moderated by Rabab El Mahdi, Associate Professor of Political Science at The American University in Cairo and Director of Alternative Policy Solutions.
The event is open to the public.
ٍRegistration at 5:30. Doors will be closed at 6:00 PM
Simultaneous translation into English will be available
Where
Oriental Hall, AUC Tahrir Square
AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt
Speakers
H.E. Ahmed Kouchouk
Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk was appointed as the Minister of Finance of Egypt in July 2024. He served as the Vice Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies and Institutional Reform starting March 2016 till July 2024. He has also been the Chief Negotiator and Government focal point with the IMF since 2016.Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk also serves as Egypt's non-resident Executive Director at the Asian International Infrastructure Bank Board (AIIB) for seven years. Additionally, he leads Egypt’s inter‐ministerial team managing the annual economic dialogue with the EU. He is currently a board member at the Monetary-Fiscal Coordination Council, the Arab African Investment Bank, Egypt National Training Academy, National Defense Council, Heliopolis for Housing Development Company, Electricity Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Body, Misr Phosphate Company, the Egyptian Central Depository and Registry Company, as well as the Urban Development Economic Authority. He has been the Ministry of Finance’s focal coordinator with monetary authorities since 2016. Moreover, he served as a Board Member at the Central Bank of Egypt from April 2016 to June 2018, at Egypt Air Holding Company from 2018 to 2020, and at Misr Fertilizers Production Company (MOPCO) from January 2021 to April 2022, as well as at Talaat Mostafa Holding to July, 2024. He had been also entitled as a board member in several other institutions over the past years. Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk is a proficient economist and policy advisor with almost 25 years of applied experience. He worked as a Senior Economist for the World Bank from June 2013 to March 2016. Furthermore, he worked at the Ministry of Finance in several leading roles for more than 14 years, including the Vice Minister, the Economic Advisor, and the head of the Macro Fiscal Unit. He also served for the Ministry of External Trade and the Ministry of Economy in Egypt. He earned his master’s degree in Economic and Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2010, and a master’s degree in economics from York University in the United Kingdom in 2002. He also had a B.A in Economics in 1998 from the American University in Cairo.
Rabab El Mahdi ’96, ’98
Associate Professor, Political Science Department
The American University in Cairo
Rabab El Mahdi is an associate professor of political science at The American University in Cairo (AUC). She earned her PhD from McGill University in Montreal, where she wrote her dissertation on the impact of neo-liberal economic reconstruction on changing patterns of state-civil society relations in Egypt and Bolivia. Her field of specialization is comparative political economy and development, with a focus on Latin America and the Middle East. El Mahdi’s research interests cover the areas of state-civil society relations, social movements and resistance, as well as the political economy of social policy. Before joining AUC, she worked for several developmental organizations, including Non-governmental organizations and United Nation agencies. Previously she taught at Yale University and was a recipient of a number of fellowships at Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and the Rockefeller Bellagio Center Residency. She is also the recipient of a number of research grants from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. Currently, she leads AUC's research project, Alternative Policy Solutions (APS). She serves on the boards of a number of civil society and professional organizations, including the Arab Political Science Network (APSN).
Hosted By
Alternative Policy Solutions
Contact the organizers