As reported in media, the-not-so-popular Banker magazine has conferred an award called 'The Central Bank Governor of the Year in Asia 2008' on SBP Governor Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, in a ceremony held in a local hotel. The Banker magazine has launched its so-called 'company awards' in the year 2003. More than 500 invitations to enter the awards were sent to 35 countries. The key criteria for consideration were historical financial performance; adoption and impact of new technology; potential for revenue and profit growth in the home market or globally; and governance and corporate social responsibility. For the year 2008, eight awards were offered to four Governors of central banks and four Finance Ministers. The countries whose FMs got the awards were Egypt , Angola , Turkey and Mexico. The central bank Governors were of Pakistan, Ghana , Saudi Arabia and Brazil. My question to the SBP is; has it controlled inflation and the unbridled increase in price index by adopting some regulatory measure? Are Pakistani banks (local as well as foreign) not offering the lowest interest rates to the investor while charging stupendous service charges from the debtor? Has the SBP ever checked up on bank executives drawing billions of rupees in salaries, perks and rewards at the cost of their depositors? The Governor of a central bank can not be absolved from the prevailing economic and financial mismanagement in his country. -DR ALI AKBAR M. DHAKAN, Karachi, via e-mail, May 8.