Jameel Ahmad was appointed governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday, taking over the role from Dr Murtaza Syed who had been until then fulfilling responsibilities as the acting chief.
Ahmad’s new role was also confirmed by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail in a tweet.
“Congratulations and welcome back Jameel sahib,” said Miftah.
Short profile
Jameel Ahmad’s career as a central banker spans over 31 years at various senior positions at the SBP as well as the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
As per information available on the SBP website, Ahmad earned his MBA degree from University of Punjab in 1988 and is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Pakistan (FCMA) since 1994, Fellow Member of the Institute of Bankers Pakistan (FIBP) since 1993 and Fellow Member of the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of Pakistan (FCIS) since 1992.
He also won two gold medals and two certificates of merit for his distinguished achievements during academic/professional studies.
Currently serving as Senior Advisor at the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, advising on a broad range of policy matters in various central banking areas, Ahmad’s association with the SBP dates back to 1991 in various capacities including Deputy Governor and Executive Director.
Ahmad served as Deputy Governor (Banking and Financial Markets & Reserve Management) in the SBP from April 2017 to October 2021.
He played an instrumental role in transforming the bank supervision system by introducing risk-based methodology, issuing and implementing the latest international Basel capital adequacy standards, issued a modern-age digital banking framework, establishing depositors’ protection scheme, strengthening bank resolution regime, and launched Pakistan’s first retail payments gateway and took many other policy and regulatory initiatives, according to the SBP.
Ahmad also has extensive experience of working at senior positions in the SBP in the areas of Monetary Policy and Operations, Exchange Rate & Reserve Management, Banking Policy and Regulation, Banking Supervision, Development Finance, Payment Systems and Financial Resource Management.
He has served as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of SBP, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deposit Protection Corporation of Pakistan, Member of the Policy Board of Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, Member of Board of Directors of National Institute of Banking & Finance. He has also closely coordinated with various ministries and represented the SBP in various Parliamentary committees including Senate and National Assembly committees.
He made significant contributions in formulating the policy and regulatory framework for the banking systems of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and monitoring their financial soundness and stability, said the SBP.
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Ahmad actively contributed in development of many international standards at various global forums including working groups of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), Financial Stability Board (FSB), Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), etc. while representing SAMA and SBP.
Crucial time
His appointment comes days ahead of the upcoming monetary policy announcement in which most analysts expect the SBP to maintain the policy rate.
The monetary policy is a crucial tool for the SBP to weigh in inflationary pressures and expectations. In the last monetary policy, the SBP increased the key interest rate by 125 basis points, taking it to 15%.
Pakistan is also facing an acute shortage of foreign exchange reserves, desperately scrambling to secure dollar inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other friendly countries.
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