Banking

Tariq Bajwa Appointed As the New SBP Governor

The federal government has announced Tariq Bajwa as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Tariq Bajwa, who retired from the civil service last month as finance secretary, will be the third bureaucrat to be appointed as head of the central bank.

He will be replacing Riaz Riazuddin, who had been serving as SBP’s acting governor since 2nd May after the retirement of Ashraf Mahmood Wathra.

Following Riaz Riazuddin’s decision to allow depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, Pakistan faced the largest drop in the rupee value in nine years which frustrated Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Sources say that the move resulted in the appointment of Tariq Bajwa. Despite the change, Ishaq Dar has promised to carry a thorough investigation into the rupee depreciation.

About Tariq Bajwa

Tariq Bajwa belongs to an influential family. Two of Tariq Bajwa’s brothers already hold positions of power in the Pakistan government. Mr. Asif Bajwa is the chief statistician in the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and was responsible for conducting the recent population and housing census while Dr. Rashid Bajwa is the CEO of National Rural Support Programme.

Tariq Bajwa did his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard, with a focus on economic subjects. He is the only Pakistani to win the prestigious Littauer fellowship.

Mr. Bajwa was the favorite to win an official position following his retirement after superannuation on 23rd June earlier this year.

Mr. Bajwa has previously served as the chairman of Federal Board of Revenue and worked in the Pakistan Administrative Services. He has also been a former Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) before being appointed to the Finance Division and has worked on the recent budget for financial year 2017.

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Published by
Syed Zarar