President Alvi appoints Jameel Ahmed as SBP governor

President gave the approval on the advice of the PM Shehbaz Sharif under Article 48(1) of the Constitution.

President Alvi appoints Jameel Ahmed as SBP governor. President Dr Arif Alvi has approved the appointment of Jameel Ahmed as Governor State Bank of Pakistan, the President House said Friday.

The President gave the approval on the advice of the prime minister under Article 48(1) of the Constitution and in line with Section 11-A (1) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act.

The notification issued by the Finance Division stated, “Jameel Ahmad is appointed as governor State Bank of Pakistan for a term of five years with the approval of the president of Pakistan, upon the recommendation of the federal government, with immediate effect.”

On May 4, it was reported that the senior-most deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will steer the central bank till the appointment of a permanent head after the tenure of Reza Baqir, who was appointed the SBP chief by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), came to an end.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister and PML-N leader Miftah Ismail. Miftah said Dr Murtaza Syed, a former official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be at the helm. “Dr Murtaza Syed, an eminently qualified economist with rich IMF experience, will take over as Governor SBP. I wish him the best in his new role.”

A day earlier, Miftah had ruled out an extension to the SBP chief. “Tomorrow Governor SBP Dr Reza Baquir’s 3-year [term] expires. I have spoken to him and told him of the government’s decision. I want to thank Reza for his service to Pakistan,” said Miftah in a tweet. “He is an exceptionally qualified man & we worked well during our brief time together. I wish him the very best,” he had added.

On July 8, it was reported that the government had failed to appoint a new governor of the SBP despite interviewing six candidates due to the divisions within its ranks, violating a law that binds it to appoint the governor within one month.

The central bank has been without a permanent governor for the last over two months, particularly at a time when Pakistan’s economy is facing serious challenges and the central bank has the responsibility to control inflation.

The SBP governor is a co-signatory of the Letter of Intent that is a prerequisite for clinching a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Of the six people that had been interviewed till then, three had worked with the IMF, including the acting governor, Dr Murtaza Syed, according to the media reports.