Egypt's prime minister appointed Khaled Serry Siam as the chairman of the Egyptian Exchange, replacing Maged Shawky who had headed the bourse since 2005.

The new chairman will assume responsibility from July 15, the investment ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Siam is the vice president of the General Authority for Financial Supervision (GAFS) and previously served as vice president of the Capital Markets Authority, the ministry said.

Shawky, who led the exchange through the global financial crisis, had asked to end his tenure by the start of the new fiscal year in July, the ministry added.

Egypt's benchmark index has tumbled some 43 per cent since January 2008.

However, Egypt's economy maintained a growth rate close to 5 per cent even during the global downturn and the index has fallen only 2.9 per cent this year, compared with a 3.8 per cent fall in the global emerging market index.

Egypt's stock exchange, with a market capitalization of $90 billion, has 213 companies trading a daily volume of 150 billion shares.-Reuters