State Bank Governor as Reza Baqir’s term ends

Karachi: as the three-year tenure of Reza Baqir as the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) expired today, the government is now consulting a name for Reza Baqir's successor.

The race for the appointment of his successor was on with four candidates leading the race and the government has started the process of consultations and considering four names including Habibi Bank Limited (HBL) President Aurangzeb Khan, ADB Executive Director Noor Ahmad, former finance secretary Shahid Mahmood and Asim Meraj Hussain.

According to details, the appointment of the new State Bank governor will be for five years.

Confirming the development, Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced in a Twitter post Tuesday that State Bank of Pakistan Governor Reza Baqir’s three-year term will expire on May 4.

The government, however, did not announce a replacement or say when Baqir’s successor will be announced.

The decision comes amid an economic crisis and political shakeup that ended the four-year run of former cricket star Imran Khan as prime minister. 

Reza Baqir, a former official at the International Monetary Fund, was appointed by Imran Khan’s PTI government in 2019. 

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Reza Baqir said “Alhamdulillah tomorrow I complete my 3 years as Governor of our central bank. Allah has been kind to give me the chance to serve my country in public office. To other fellow Pakistanis, especially overseas, I encourage you to consider public service.”

The new administration of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is seeking to restore assistance from the IMF, which has been in limbo since 2020 after the government failed to meet certain conditions. 

Talks are scheduled to start in May with the lender over conditions to unlock billions of dollars in loans, which may include doing away with subsidies on fuel and electricity, moves that could further stoke inflationary pressures but would help shore up government finances, said Bloomberg. 

The country faces dwindling foreign reserves, a falling currency, and a rising current account deficit. Baqir led the central bank’s decision in early April to raise interest rates by 250 basis points, the biggest hike since 1996, to help stem Asia’s second-fastest inflation.

Miftah Ismail said officials have had “positive” talks with the IMF for the resumption of the loan program. The IMF has “largely agreed” to extend the current program for another year, but details would be worked out during a mission visit to Pakistan in May.