Cairo: Egypt’s leader named veteran financier Hassan Abdalla as acting central bank governor.
Abdalla replaces Tarek Amer, who resigned on Wednesday and was appointed an adviser to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. No reasons were given for his departure, which ended a dramatic tenure that began in 2015.
The chairman of the United Media Services group, which owns many of Egypt’s most popular newspapers and TV channels, Abdalla previously held senior positions over many years at the Arab African International Bank, which was jointly established with the central bank. He was named a senior official at Egypt’s central bank in 2018, and is also the founder of Panther Associates, a financial advisory firm.
El-Sisi has asked him to develop monetary policies that keep pace with global economic challenges, create a positive investment climate and diversify Egypt’s sources of foreign exchange, according to the state-run Ahram Gate website.
Abdalla holds degrees in business administration from the American University in Cairo, according to his LinkedIn page. He has been on the board of the London Stock Exchange since 2004 and a member of the board at the Institute of International Finance from 2006 to 2012, it says.
