Cairo, (AFP) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has appointed prominent banker Hassan Abdullah as acting governor of the Central Bank, succeeding Tarek Amer, who was appointed as an advisor to the president.

Egyptian presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, announced in a brief statement on Thursday that Sisi had issued a "republican decision appointing Hassan Abdullah as acting governor of the Central Bank."

Rady added that Sisi met Abdullah and assured him of "the need to develop monetary policies to keep pace with global economic changes, and work to provide various sources of foreign currency resources."

Al-Sisi had announced, before Wednesday, Amer’s apology for continuing in his position, which was scheduled to end in his second term next year.

Amer assumed his position as Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt in October 2015, for a period of four years.

Until the issuance of his appointment decision, Abdullah held the position of president of the United Media Services Company, which controls a large stake in this field, whether in television, radio, or newspapers, leading to the production of drama and cinema.

Prior to that, Abdullah held the position of CEO of the Arab African African Bank in Egypt, and was previously appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt , according to the website of the state-run Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper.

It is expected that the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank will hold a meeting on Thursday to consider interest rates in light of the critical time the country is going through with regard to financial policies to try to control the rate of price rise on the one hand, after the annual inflation rate almost reached 15%, and try to provide Foreign exchange, on the other hand, as Egypt seeks to get out of the tunnel of the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Under Amer, the local currency witnessed two waves of flotation against the US dollar in 2016 and last March, bringing the Egyptian pound to its lowest level in more than 5 years, as the price of the dollar recorded 19.10 pounds, according to Central Bank data.

Egypt is currently negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a new loan to mitigate the repercussions of the war in Ukraine on the economy of the country, where the poverty rate reaches about 30% of the total population, which exceeds 103 million people.