Dr Murtaza assumes charge as acting SBP governor 

Karachi: The federal government has decided to appoint Murtaza Syed as acting Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) after Reza Baqir’s three years tenure expired earlier this week. 

Dr Murtaza Syed, Deputy Governor of the SBP, has taken over as acting Governor of the central bank till the appointment of a full-fledged governor. 

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 three-year term of Dr Reza Baqir, Governor SBP expired on May 4 and the federal government decided not to reappoint him for another tenure—which is five-year after the amendment to SBP Act in 2021. 

Dr Reza Baqir issued his statement on social media after completing his tenure. 

“I am confident and hopeful that we as a country will make the right choices to overcome the challenges ahead of us,” the former Governor State Bank tweeted.

In my time at SBP I am particularly proud of several new initiatives I was able to lead at our central bank: (a) SBP’s Covid response packages and many new facilities for the 1st time in SBP history https://t.co/25mlEINzWW: TERF, Rozgar payroll loans, hospital financing, etc 2/n

— Reza Baqir (@rezabaqir) May 3, 2022

As per a brief profile issued by the bank, Dr Syed has a PhD in economics from the Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. 

Dr Syed also published papers on a variety of macroeconomic issues, including fiscal and monetary policy, financial stability, economic crises, investment, demographics, poverty and inequality.  

He also worked for a London-based public policy think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), where he researched business investment and employment behavior. 

Moreover, he went on to work at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for around 16 years and had been involved in IMF programs and surveillance of emerging markets and advanced economies, including the Euro-area, Japan, and South Korea. 

After accumulating over two decades of experience in macroeconomic research and policy making, he joined the SBP. 

In the meantime, authorities in the finance ministry informed that the government is considering several names for the slot of SBP Governor.