KARACHI: President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Arif Usmani on Friday said that Pakistan was achieved after a glorious revolution and today we are lucky that we live and breathe freely in this beautiful homeland ‘Pakistan.

He said this while speaking at the Flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of Independence Day of Pakistan here on Friday.

Arif Usmani said that freedom was the right of every man and independence is the right of people.

But the history tells us that neither can be achieved easily, he added.

He said that the NBP since its inception has played a pivotal role in the development of the country.

A bank that was primarily established for jute financing so as to bring the country out of woods was now having a prominent role in every sector of the economy.

He said that the NBP had more than 1500 branches and catering to every aspect of banking including but not limited to Islamic Banking, Corporate Banking, Trade Finance, Agriculture, SME & Retail, treasury and Home Remittances.

He said that the Government of Pakistan was making all out efforts to address these economic challenges and NBP was committed to deliver on the National Agenda of Inclusive Development.

Arif Usmani said that the global regulatory environment poses lot of challenges to the banking sector and the Pakistan economy in general.

He said that it was quite concerning to learn how the world has changed in just few months, with COVID-19 now impacting every aspect of our lives.

COVID-19 had taken the world into a state of emergency, he added.