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New constitution may remove veteran Central Bank governor

Several senior positions at monitoring and independent bodies will become vacant if the referendum approval of the new constitution is made official, as expected this week, government sources said Monday.

According to unofficial results, nearly 64 percent of those who went to the polls voted in favor of the constitution.

The new charter stipulates that the president appoints the Central Bank of Egypt president to a non-renewable four-year term after receiving majority approval from the Shura Council. The head of the bank, according to the draft, cannot be removed from office during that time.

The current bank governor, Farouk al-Oqda, has served in his position for nine years. Oqda has not submitted a resignation, the sources said, praising the official.

The president has tasked a legal committee with examining whether Oqda could be appointed to a four-year term when the new constitution takes effect, Turkish news agency Anadolu attributed anonymous sources as saying.

Some officials want Oqda to stay in the position because his leadership is a guarantor of stability for the currency exchange market and the conclusion of a key loan deal with the IMF, the sources said. Oqda also has the trust of foreign investors and international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

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