Saleem Raza appointed Governor SBP

ISLAMABAD - The government Monday appointed Saleem Raza as new Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). He will assume charge after incumbent Dr Shamshad Akhtar resigns on January 1, 2009, a day before the completion of her three-year term. It may be recalled here that it was TheNation that broke this news on December 17 about the decision of the government not to continue with Dr Akhtar and likelihood of Saleem Raza, having backing both from the PPP and the MQM, to replace her. The newly-appointed Governor of SBP called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at the PM House on Monday afternoon after the government notified his appointment, according to an official handout. The PM expressed the confidence that the new Governor, who has sound experience in the financial sector and international banking, would work to the best of his abilities towards meeting the enormous economic challenges being faced by the country. He said the government was fully committed to the economic wellbeing of the people through infrastructure development and expanding economic opportunities. Saleem Raza thanked the Prime Minister for the confidence reposed in him and said he would do his utmost in streamlining the monetary policy. The newly-appointed Governor SBP is the brother of President National Bank of Pakistan Ali Raza and son of renowned bureaucrat Syed Hashim Raza. Presently holding the position of Chief Executive of the Banking Council of Pakistan, Saleem Raza had a lengthy career in CitiBank. According to officials of Finance Ministry, Saleem Raza played important role as member of the Economic Advisory Council by assisting Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance Shaukat Tarin to draw the economic stabilisation programme that was later on backed by the International Monetary Fund with $7.6 billion bailout package. Our Staff Reporter from Karachi adds: The newly-appointed SBP Governor Saleem Raza was born in 1946. He got masters degree from the Oxford University, UK. He has sound experience in commercial banking with a vast financial sector expertise. He had served as a Country Head in CitiBank since 1983 to 1987. Saleem Raza played a long innings in Citigroup and got retiement a couple of years back. Agencies add: - Raza will step in to the governor's position at a difficult time. Pakistan has recently signed a loan agreement worth US$7.6 billion with the International Monetary Fund to stave off an impending crisis on its foreign payments. Earlier, Dr Shamshad has conveyed the federal government of her decision to step down as the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan on completion of her three-year term on January 1, 2009 . She had taken over as Governor, State Bank of Pakistan on January 2, 2006. Meanwhile, in a meeting of the SBP Central Board of Directors on December 26, 2008, she presented the First Quarterly Report on the State of Pakistan's Economy for 2008-09 fiscal year and the Quarterly Performance Review of the Banking System September 2008. The Governor also presented to the Board a comprehensive Performance Report of the State Bank of Pakistan from January 2006 to December 200.