KARACHI: The federal government has appointed Jameel Ahmad as the new State Bank of Pakistan governor and he will serve a five-year term, the finance ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Ahmad had been serving as central bank deputy governor before his promotion. The central had been without a fulltime governor since May, having been run by an acting governor.

Ahmad would replace Dr Murtaza Syed, the acting governor of the central bank. Murtaza had taken the interim role after the three-year term of Dr Reza Baqir ended on May 4.

According to the SBP Act, at any time when the office of governor is vacant or the governor is incapacitated, the senior most deputy governor shall be the acting governor, until the governor is appointed.

The announcement comes two days before the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting that would be held on Monday in Karachi to decide on the policy. Later on, it will issue the Monetary Policy Statement through a press release on the same day.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told a press conference on July 31 that the federal government would appoint the SBP governor “this week”.

“I hope and I believe that the SBP governor will be appointed this week and hopefully my recommendation will be part of it,” he had said in response to a query over recommendations for the coveted slot.

Miftah Ismail congratulated Ahmad on the new role.

Jameel Ahmad biography

Jameel Ahmad’s career as a central banker spans over 30 years in various senior positions at the SBP and the Saudi Central Bank. His association with the SBP dates back to 1991 in various capacities including deputy governor and executive director.

He was reappointed as deputy governor by the federal government on October 25, 2018, for a period of three years. Ahmad has contributed to formulating the policy and regulatory framework for the banking systems of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and monitoring their financial soundness and stability.

“As deputy governor [of] SBP, Ahmad played an instrumental role in digitisation of banking and payments as well enablement of fintechs for offering innovative financial services in the country. He supervised the formulation and issuance of Regulations for E-money Institutions in Pakistan. He also served as the Chairman of Steering Committees on the implementations of Raast,” said the SBP website.

The new SBP governor did his MBA from the University of Punjab in 1988 and is a fellow member of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (FCMA) since 1994.