The federal government on Friday appointed Jameel Ahmad as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor for five years.
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.”
Ahmad, a seasoned banker with more than 26 years of experience, has previously served as the central bank’s deputy governor.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail congratulated Ahmad on his appointment.
The three-year term of Ahmad’s predecessor, Dr Reza Baqir, had expired on May 4, following which Dr Murtaza Syed had taken over as acting governor.
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Ahmad served as the SBP deputy governor (banking and FMRM) from April 11 2017 to October 15 2018. Later, he was reappointed as the deputy governor for a three-year term on Oct 25 2018.
Prior to being appointed as deputy governor, he served as Group Head of the Operations, Banking Policy & Regulations Department, the Development Finance Department, and Financial Resource Management Department in the State Bank of Pakistan.
He has also worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
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.
He supervised the formulation and issuance of regulations for Electronic Money Institutions in Pakistan. He also served as the chairman of steering committees on the implementation of 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.
Ahmad completed his MBA from the University of Punjab in 1988. He has been a fellow member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan since 1994, a fellow member of the Institute of Bankers Pakistan since 1993 and fellow member Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan since 1992.
