An expected resignation was submitted yesterday by Tarek Amer, chairman of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), to Farouk El-Okdah, who will also resign from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) after the approval of the new constitution which states that a senior government official cannot take more than two terms in office and El-Okdah occupied this post for nine months.
Many reasons have prompted Amer to quit the public-sector banking sector in the current period. Sources said El-Okdah’s resignation is one of the main reasons that led Amer to resign as the former is known for his support to the latter. El-Okdah nominates three names to the presidency to succeed him which are Amer, chairman of Banque Misr Mohamed Barakat and deputy chairman of Commercial International Bank Hisham Ramez who was named the Governor last Thursday.
The Freedom and Justice Party’s economic committee rejected the appointment of Amer to the Governor position because he had connections with Gamal Mubarak, son of the deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
Sources said Amer could have stayed in his position at NBE, if Ramez was not the Governor of CBE as there is severe dispute between them.
Sources ruled out that Amer’s resignation is related to the maximum wage cap that is approved this month which stipulates that the cap on wages should not exceed 35 times the minimum wage at each bank.
El-Sayed El-Kosayer, chairman of the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt, is the most likely to be named the chairman of NBE, following Amer for many reasons. El-Kosayer is one of the most prominent leaders of NBE as he worked for the bank from 1981 to 2011. He was a member of the board of directors and head of risk management department. He also enabled the bank to implement Basel I and Basel II standards.
When NBE’s employees held protests after 2011’s revolution demanding the resignation of Amer, Elwy and Okasha, CBE asked El-Kosayer to manage this crisis and negotiate with the employees. He succeeded to contain this crisis at that time, sources continued.
In addition, El-Kosayer succeeded in enabling the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt to achieve profit of more than EGP 50 million in 2012 for the first time since years.
