KARACHI: The federal government has appointed Jameel Ahmad, a deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), as the bank’s governor for a five-year term, the finance ministry said on Friday.

He has been appointed “with the approval of the president of Pakistan, upon the recommendation of the federal government, with immediate effect”, the ministry’s notification said.

The central bank had been without a full-time governor since May and one of Mr Ahmad’s first tasks will be to chair a monetary policy meeting to consider its policy rate.

“Congratulations and welcome back Jameel sahib,” Finance Minis­ter Miftah Ismail said in a tweet after Mr Ahmad’s appointment.

One of his first tasks is to chair a monetary policy meeting to consider interest rate

The three-year term of Mr Ahmad’s predecessor, Dr Reza Baqir, expired on May 4, after which Dr Murtaza Syed took over as acting governor.

Mr Ahmad was reappointed as the central bank’s deputy governor three years ago after having served in the role from April 2017 to Oct­ober 2018, according to his profile on the SBP’s website.

As a deputy SBP governor, Mr Ahmad played an instrumental role in digitising banking and payments and enabling financial technology services, the central bank said.

Mr Ahmad’s career spans more than 30 years in various positions at the SBP and the Saudi Central Bank. His association with the SBP dates back to 1991 in various capacities, including deputy governor and executive director.

Before his appointment as an SBP deputy governor, he was executive director of its Banking Supervision and Financial Stability Group.

He has also served as group head of operations of the banking policy and regulations department, the development finance and financial resource management department.

He joined the Saudi central bank in July 2009 as an adviser, a position he held until April 2015. He has contributed significantly to formulating the policy and regulatory framework for the banking systems of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and monitoring their financial soundness and stability, according to the central bank’s website.

Mr Ahmad supervised the formulation and issuance of regulations for electronic money institutions in Pakistan. He also served as the chairman of steering committees on implementing Raast, an instant payments 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.

Mr Ahmad completed his MBA from the University of Punjab in 1988 and has been a fellow member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan since 1994, the Institute of Bankers Pakistan since 1993 and the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan since 1992.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2022