ISLAMABAD: Arif Usmani has been appointed as the president National Bank of Pakistan after the Ministry of Finance issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday.

The federal cabinet appro­ved Usmani’s name for the position in November last year but the notification from the finance ministry was held up after he sought the delay in order to wrap up his affairs at the previous organisation, according to an official of the finance ministry.

The official said that the government also requires some time after the cabinet’s approval to get appropriate certification from the State Bank of Pakistan.

Usmani had requested a delay in the notification to ensure clearance of dues and release of service at the Mashreq Bank Dubai, where he was working as the head of risk management since November, 2017, the official added.

Prior to his employment at Mashreq Bank, Mr Usmani was director of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) in Egypt and global head of wholesale banking at the ADIB since 2012.

Usmani started his career in 1981 with CitiBank as unit head for corporate banking group, where he later became the managing director and country officer for Citibank Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2019