Former Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, who held the post during Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi's first term as president, died Saturday at the age of 67, Arab News reported.

Ismail was sworn in as prime minister in 2015 and then resigned in 2018, at the beginning of al-Sisi's second term as president.

According to al-Sisi, Ismail took charge under the most difficult circumstances and in the most difficult times.

“I mourn with deep sorrow and sadness a virtuous man from the best men of Egypt.. a man in whom the conscience of this nation was embodied, the former Prime Minister Sherif Ismail,” he said.

“The late (Ismail) was a truly great man, who assumed responsibility in the most difficult circumstances and darkest times, and he was up to the difficult responsibility,” Sisi added.

Ismail presided over a period of harsh economic reforms that led to a sharp devaluation of the currency in late 2016, followed by cuts in subsidies linked to a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan.