ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani accepted on Monday the resignation of State Bank Governor Shahid Kardar.A statement issued by the prime minister’s secretariat said the prime minister had appointed senior most Deputy Governor Mr Yasin Anwar as Acting Governor of the State Bank with immediate effect.

The statement ended speculations that Mr Kardar might withdraw his resignation at the insistence of the government because a change of SBP governor in just nine months would not send good vibes to the international community at a time when the country is facing serious economic challenges.

Mr Kardar had tendered his resignation in a letter dated July 15 addressed to the prime minister. The letter said: “I hereby resign from the position of Governor, State Bank of Pakistan. I am grateful for the privilege and great honour bestowed upon me to serve the country.”

Surprisingly, news of Mr Kardar’s resignation has been doing the rounds for more than a week, but the statement said it was dated July 15.

Sources told Dawn that Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeem ul Haque had tried to persuade Mr Kardar to take back his resignation and even prevailed upon Mr Gilani not to accept it.

A senior official in the prime minister’s secretariat expressed surprise over the acceptance of Mr Kardar’s resignation because, he said, until Sunday night there were clear indications that the governor would stay.

He said the prime minister left for the UK in the afternoon and it appeared quite odd that the official statement attributed to him was issued when he was not in the country.

The sources said Mr Kardar’s departure after remaining in office just for nine months would not augur well for the country’s economy.

They said the finance minister and the planning commission’s deputy chairman, who worked in close cooperation with the outgoing governor, would be facing a difficult situation in policy-making as far as the SBP was concerned.

Names of Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood, former SBP governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar and former National Bank president Ali Raza are being mentioned as potential replacements of Mr Kardar. The government has 90 days to appoint a new governor.

The sources said the decision to accept the resignation had been taken by the presidency which wanted somebody more pliant as SBP governor.