Egypt's Shura Council (upper house of parliament) approved the nomination of Hisham Ramez as governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Sunday.

President Mohamed Morsi on 11 January named Hisham Ramez, a former deputy central bank governor, as the new head of the CBE after accepting the resignation of longstanding CBE governor Farouq El-Oqda, who has headed the bank since 2003. 

The Shura Council, which now holds the legislative authority in Egypt, has thus officially approved the nomination of Ramez by majority vote.

Ramez served as CBE number-two from 2008 to 2011, after which he briefly served as vice-chairman and managing director for Egypt's Commercial International Bank (CIB).