ISLAMABAD
In a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on Friday, the President of Pakistan has appointed a recently retired bureaucrat from the civil service and ex-finance secretary Tariq Bajwa as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan for a period of three years.
Tariq Bajwa is a renowned bureaucrat with a reputation for being upright and competent who served with distinction in the civil service. Bajwa also served as the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue for 2.5 years.
He is known to be close to the ruling family and his appointment as governor of the central bank comes at a critical juncture, when the country is going through daunting issues at the external economic front.
He will be responsible for supporting and consolidating the government’s economic reforms and financial robustness of the banking sector.
Analysts believe that his loyalty to the ruling party was the major qualification of Bajwa for grabbing the new post for three years.
Talking to Pakistan Today, former Finance Minister Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said that as Bajwa remained loyal to the present government, three important posts were waiting for him including chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) and Governor SBP. The government was running the central bank on an ad-hoc basis since last governor had retired on April 28.
As Finance Secretary, Bajwa kept these three posts vacant for him to grab after retirement while running the institutions through junior officials working on acting charges, Saleem claimed, adding that though the governor SBP is constitutional post but it is supervised through a joint secretary sitting at ministry of finance.
An analyst questioned, “Why Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was feeling much insecure with a professional head of these departments? Are only DMG officers able to head higher posts of professional organizations?”
He added, “Not only Tariq Bajwa but former secretary finance Waqar Masood has also run the organizations in the same way.”
He said, “As governing SBP is a specialized job, someone highly professional should be given the authority.” Moreover, “Finance Minister wants his direct control and hold over the affairs of SBP by appointing a loyal and non-professional on the highest post at the central bank,” the analyst alleged.
According to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Friday, Tariq Bajwa has been appointed the central bank’s new governor for the next three years.
Bajwa who replaces outgoing acting SBP Governor Riaz Riazuddin ─ joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1981 and has held various positions over his 36-year career.
Prior to his new appointment, Bajwa served as the chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from July 2013 to October 2015.
Deputy Chief Executive of Sustainable Development Policy Institute Dr Viqar Ahmed claimed that the appointment of a non-professional man on the post by ministry of finance was actually violation of State Bank (Amendment) Act 2015, which had empowered the Board of SBP to take the major decision.
According to him the role of SBP was strengthened further by substituting the federal government’s approval wherever required with the Board’s approval. “The amendment which ensures autonomy of the central bank was approved from parliament on the immense pressure of IMF,” he said.
Besides, another disturbing issue is the non-convening of meeting of the Monetary and Fiscal Policies Coordination Board for over last nine months.
The urgency of calling the meeting has intensified following the widening current account deficit due to steep fall in exports, skyrocketing imports and decreasing foreign remittances.
Bajwa did his Masters in Public Administration from the prestigious and world renowned Harvard University and is the only Pakistani to be a recipient of the prestigious Littauer fellowship.
Earlier on Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while addressing the media had stated that the sudden surge in US dollar value was due to “miscommunication between certain people”. He further assured that the market would adjust itself back to stability.
Dar chaired a meeting of bank CEOs earlier to discuss the recent economic development. He termed depreciation of rupee “surprising” and “artificial”.
“The hike in the dollar was artificial and happened as a result of miscommunication between certain people. A transparent investigation into the matter would be conducted and we will gather all the facts, including who profited and who bore losses from this hike,” he asserted.
Dar further informed that the appointment of governor of State Bank of Pakistan would be finalised once Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is back from an official visit to Tajikistan.
He also announced that an inquiry into the dollar value hike would be launched once the governor of SBP is confirmed.
