Who is new SBP governor?

KARACHI: After months of delay, the federal government finally appointed a permanent head of the central bank, notifying Jameel Ahmed as the governor State Bank of Pakistan for a five-year term.

The office fell vacant in May after former SBP governor Reza Baqir's term expired and the coalition government decided against extending his tenure further.

"In exercise of powers conferred under Section 11A(1) read with Section 14(1) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act 1956 (Amended 2022), Jameel Ahmad is appointed as Governor State Bank of Pakistan for a term of five (5) years with the approval of the President of Pakistan, upon the recommendation of Federal Government," a Finance Division notification read.

Following Baqir's exit, Murtaza Syed, being the senior-most deputy governor, assumed the position of the State Bank of Pakistan's acting governor.

Finance Minister congratulated the newly-appointed governor and welcomed him back.

Last month, the Ministry of Finance moved the official summary to Prime Minister’s Office and proposed a list of six candidates — including Ahmad, Saeed Ahmed, former president National Bank of Pakistan, Asim Hussain, former IMF official, Syed Murtaza, deputy governor SBP, and Zafar Masud, President Bank of Punjab, and Ashraf Khan, former Governor SBP.

Profile

Jameel Ahmad was reappointed as deputy governor of the SBP by the federal government on October 25, 2018, for a period of three years. He also served as deputy governor (Banking & FMRM) from April 11, 2017, to October 15, 2018.

According to his SBP profile, he has played an instrumental role in the digitisation of banking and payments as well as the enablement of fintech for offering innovative financial services in the country.

He supervised the formulation and issuance of Regulations for E-money Institutions in Pakistan. He also served as the chairman of steering committees on the implementations of Raast, Pakistan’s instant payment system; digital banking regulations and SBP’s Knowledge Management System.

He also oversaw the development and issuance of Pakistan’s National Payment Systems Strategy developed jointly by SBP and the World Bank.

During his association with the Saudi Central Bank, Ahmad represented SAMA on several high-profile working groups/task forces of the BCBS including its Large Exposures Group, High-Level Task Force on Sovereign Exposures, and Task Force on Prudential Treatment of Assets and Supervision & Implementation Group.

Ahmad did his MBA from the University of Punjab in 1988 and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (FCMA) since 1994, Fellow Member of the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (FIBP) since 1993, and Fellow Member of the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan (FCIS) since 1992.

He also won two gold medals and two certificates of merit for his distinguished achievements during academic/professional studies. He also received extensive on-the-job training in Banking Supervision under a World Bank Project during 1998-99 that included short attachments with various US regulatory Agencies.