In a latest development, the federal government has appointed Tariq Bajwa as the new governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). He will replace Riaz Riazuddin who was serving from 2nd May as the acting governor of SBP after the retirement of Ashraf Mahmood Wathra.
It is worth mentioning that the rupee against the dollar faced massive depreciation few days ago. It was the largest drop in rupee value in 9 years and Riazuddin’s decision to permit depreciation angered Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
According to the sources, the drop in the rupee agitated Ishaq Dar and he immediately announced the appointment of Tariq Bajwa as the new SBP governor. The finance minister is keen to carry out a proper investigation into the rupee depreciation.
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About Tariq Bajwa
Tariq Bajwa will become the third bureaucrat to be selected as the head of the central bank. He retired last month as a finance secretary from the civil service; and will be resuming the office as the SBP governor. The new governor was anyway favored to secure a key position in the office following his retirement in the previous month.
Tariq is a graduate from Harvard University. He has done Master’s in Public Administration with an emphasis on economic subjects. Interestingly, he is the only Pakistani to win the prestigious Littauer fellowship.
Formerly, he rendered his services as the chairman of FBR. He also worked in the Pakistan Administrative Services. In addition, he was also a former Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD). Recently, he was appointed to the Finance Division and he played a pivotal role on the recent budget for financial year 2017.
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Hailing from an influential family, two brothers of Tariq Bajwa already hold key positions in the Government of Pakistan. One of his brothers, Asif Bajwa works as a chief statistician in the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). He is also responsible for directing the ongoing population and housing census. Another brother of Tariq, Rashid Bajwa is the CEO of National Rural Support Programme.
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