The governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will resign from his position by the end of December for health reasons, a CBE source who preferred anonymity told Ahram Online Monday.
"He intends to end his career due to his health condition," the source said.
Farouq El-Oqda, who has been at the helm of the CBE for the last nine years, had been nominated earlier this year for the position of prime minster, but ultimately declined the offer.
On Monday, the Turkish Anadolu news agency cited anonymous senior banking sources as saying that El-Oqda had tendered his resignation to Egypt's presidency last June, but that his request to resign remained pending.
According to the source cited by Anadolu, El-Oqda has put forth three names to succeed him: Tareq Amer, chairman of the National Bank of Egypt; Mohamed Barakat, chairman of Banque Misr (Egypt's second largest bank); and Hisham Ramez, managing director of the Commercial International Bank.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi met with El-Oqda on Sunday, but the meeting was not followed by any official statements.
CBE Sub-Governor Nidal Al-Aassar, meanwhile, speaking to Egypt's official MENA news agency, denied that El-Oqda had tendered his resignation to Morsi at the Sunday meeting.
In 2011, Egypt's then-ruling Supreme Military Council renewed El-Oqda's four-year term as CBE governor. In the same year, Euromoney named him 'Central Bank Governor of the Year' for the Middle East and North Africa region.