KARACHI, April 30: Senior Editor, The Banker Magazine, Ms Karina Robinson presented the ‘Central Bank Governor of the Year in Asia 2008 Award’ to State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar at a ceremony held at a local hotel in Karachi on Wednesday.

Lauding the services of Dr Akhtar, Karina Robinson said she had been able to restructure many aspects of economy and implement many new policies in the banking sector, including an important financial inclusion strategy.

She said Dr Akhtar managed to tighten monetary policy and through decisive actions was successful in 2006 and 2007 in sustaining a downward trend in inflationary pressures while facilitating record strong growth in economy.

Monetary tightening has had the important impact of maintaining hard-won macroeconomic stability that has encouraged increased investment flows, she added.

Dr Akhtar said that the banking sector reforms have brought in competition within the system, improved internal efficiency and broadened access to the middle class. She said these reforms would not have been possible without the cooperation of chief executives of banks.