Origins
At the time of Partition, the new state was without a central bank and a proper banking system was almost non-existent. Most of the banks had their head offices in India. Out of 3,496 branches of the scheduled banks, only 631 were situated in Pakistan.
To complete the picture of misery, the entire banking structure was dominated by Hindus. With the announcement of the Partition Plan of June 3, 1947, the Hindu started to withdraw their deposits from the banks located in Pakistan. As a result, many banks had to close down their operations.
Since Pakistan had no central bank of its own, it was decided to assign the monetary operations of the new state to the Reserve Bank of India for a period of one year (till September 30, 1948). However, it was soon realized that if this situation continued for too long, the country’s interests would be hurt.
Accordingly, the State Bank of Pakistan Order was issued on May 12, 1948 and Pakistan (Monetary System and Reserve Bank) Order, 1947 was amended according to which the Reserve Bank of India was to stop functioning in Pakistan on June 30, 1948, with the new central bank taking over on the next day.
At the time of its formation, the State Bank of Pakistan neither had any building for housing its offices nor was there sufficient time for purchase and construction of new premises. Therefore, Victoria Museum Building at the Ingle Road was rented from the Karachi Municipal Corporation and swiftly refurbished.
The Bank was inaugurated on July 1, 1948 by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who thus observed on the guiding principles of the newly-created central bank:
“I need hardly dilate on the important role that the State Bank will have to play in regulating the economic life of our country.
The monetary policy of the bank will have a direct bearing on our trade and commerce, both inside Pakistan as well as with the outside world and it is only to be desired that your policy should encourage maximum production and a free flow of trade.”
Mr. Ashraf Mahmood Wathra has been appointed as Governor, SBP with effect from April 29, 2014, for a period of 3 years.
Mr. Wathra was appointed as Acting Governor, SBP on January 31, 2014 on the resignation of Mr. Yaseen Anwar, ex-Governor, SBP.
Mr. Wathra’s association with the SBP started when he assumed charge of the office of Deputy Governor (DG), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on March 11, 2013. The Federal Government had notified Mr. Wathra’s appointment as DG, SBP on March 5, 2013 for a period of three years from the date he assumed office.
Mr. Wathra brings 35 years of commercial & investment banking experience to his new assignment. Prior to joining SBP, he was serving the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) as its Senior Executive Vice President & Group Chief, Credit Management Group, since October, 2012.
Before joining NBP, Mr. Wathra served Habib Bank Limited from April 1999 to September 2012 in various responsible capacities such as Regional General Manager (Bangladesh), Executive Vice President & Regional General Manager (Singapore), Executive Vice President, Group Executive and Risk Manager & Senior Credit Officer, Asset Remedial Management Group.
He was attached with Faysal Bank Limited from May 1992 to March 1999 in senior positions such as Executive Vice President & Country Risk Manager, Executive Vice President & Regional Manager and Senior Vice President & Chief Manager.
From 1978 to 1992, he had been associated with BRR Capital Modaraba, Emirates Bank International, American Express Bank Ltd. and ANZ Grindlays Bank. He also served as Director at Habib Finance International, Hong Kong and Habib Finance, Australia.
Holding Masters Degree in Business Administration, Mr. Wathra has attended a number of seminars, conferences and courses at home and abroad including Wharton/SMU General Management Program, Operational Risk Management and Asian Bonds Summit etc.
Mr. Wathra holds extensive experience in restructuring and reorganization of business units. He has extensive knowledge of investment banking and commercial banking operations, trade finance products and underlying delivery systems.
Well conversant with Islamic modes of finance, he has extensive marketing experience of a cross section of corporate, government and aid agencies including syndication of large facilities for corporate and public sector. He also has experience in line management, audit & risk review, credit & risk management.
