The federal government on Friday finally appointed Jameel Ahmad as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Jameel Ahmad previously served as the central bank’s deputy.
According to the details, the appointment was approved by President Arif Alvi on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under the Constitution and State Bank of Bank Act. Jameel Ahmad will serve as the SBP governor for the next five years.
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“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 11A (1) read with Section 14(1) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act 1956 (Amended 2022), Jameel Ahmad is appointed as Governor State Bank of Pakistan for a term of five (5) years with the approval of the President of Pakistan, upon the recommendation of Federal Government, with immediate effect,” read the notification from the Finance Ministry.
Reacting to the development, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail congratulated Jameel Ahmed and welcomed him back.
“Congratulations and welcome back Jameel Sahib,” the finance minister tweeted while sharing the notification of the appointment.
Congratulations and welcome back Jameel sahib https://t.co/m7W6v8B2oP
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) August 19, 2022
Important to note that the seat of the SBP fell vacant in May after the end of Dr Reza Baqir’s tenure. Dr Murtaza Syed assumed responsibility for the role of acting Governor.
The central bank was without a permanent governor for the last over two months, particularly at a time when Pakistan’s economy faced serious challenges and the central bank has the responsibility to control inflation.
Profile of Jameel Ahmad
As per SBP, Jameel Ahmad has played an instrumental role in the digitisation of banking and payments as well as the enablement of fintech for offering innovative financial services in the country.
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.
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Moreover, he also served as the Chairman of Steering Committees on the implementations of Raast, Pakistan’s instant payment 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.
He has also worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). During his association with the Saudi Central Bank, Mr. Jameel represented SAMA on many high-profile working groups and task forces, including the G20 Task Force on Financial Safety Nets.