Karachi :
Finance Minister Muftah Ismail has announced the appointment of Dr. Raza Syed as the new Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan after the expiration of the tenure of Dr. Raza Baqir.
In a tweet, Muftah Ismail said that the term of office of Dr. Raza Baqir was coming to an end on May 4, according to the law.
He said that for this reason Dr. Murtaza Syed will take over the post of Governor SBP who is a competent economist with full experience of IMF.
According to the SBP, Dr. Murtaza Syed has more than 20 years of experience in macroeconomic research and policy making and worked with the IMF for 16 years before resigning to join the SBP.
Dr. Murtaza Syed holds a PhD in Economics from Oxford University’s Nuffield College and has lectured on public policy at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.
Yesterday, Muftah Ismail had hinted in a tweet that the government would not extend Dr. Raza Baqir.
In a statement released on the social networking site Tour, Muftah Ismail said, “I have spoken to Raza Baqir and told him about the government’s decision.
The Finance Minister said that he would like to thank Raza Baqir for his services to Pakistan.
Muftah Ismail said that Raza Baqir is an exceptionally capable man and we did a lot of work together in a short time. I wish him all the best.
After the announcement made by Muftah Ismail yesterday, Dr. Raza Baqir in a series of tweets thanked Allah Almighty and the members of his team who gave him the opportunity to serve in public office.
He said that I encourage Pakistanis and especially Pakistanis living abroad to perform public services.
The former governor also recalled the steps taken by the SBP during his tenure which included employment payroll loans and hospital financing including Corona Relief Package, Roshan Digital Account, Direct, Framework for Licensing Digital Banks in Pakistan. Measures such as financial inclusion for women and affordable housing for low-income and others.
He added: “I especially want to thank the Deputy Governors and SBP Corporate Management for their teamwork and cooperation. I would also like to thank the 4 Finance Ministers and 5 Finance Secretaries with whom I Worked in his 3 years.
Dr. Raza Baqir said that Pakistan is facing many challenges but it also has tremendous strength to face them, adding that I am confident and hopeful that as a country we can overcome our future challenges Will make the right choice.
It should be noted that the PTI government had appointed Dr. Raza Baqir as the Governor of SBP for three years in May 2019.
According to the notification issued by the Finance Division, Raza Baqir was appointed for three years under Section 10 (3) of the SBP Act, 1956.
Raza Baqir served as head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission in Romania before being appointed SBP governor in January.
He has been associated with the IMF as a debt policy division.
Dr. Raza Baqir graduated from Harvard University and later did a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Barclays.
