'Ishaq Dar's intervention' delays appointment of SBP governor

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is yet to appoint the governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and now sources claimed that a dispute between former finance minister Ishaq Dar and incumbent finance wizard Miftah Ismail has emerged over the possible nominees, ARY NEWS reported.

According to sources privy to the backdoor discussions for the appointment, Ishaq Dar’s intervention is delaying the crucial appointment as the latter is opposing officials proposed by Miftah Ismail.

“Miftah Ismail is supporting the appointment of Asim Meraj as the SBP governor,” they said.

On the other hand, Miftah Ismail is also not satisfied with the names forwarded by Ishaq Dar after he proposed Deputy Governor SBP Jamil Ahmed’s name for the slot.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is also mulling over the name of Zafar Masood, whose name is proposed by Asif Zardari,” they said, adding that a joint consultation over the nominees was held between Miftah Ismail, Saleem Mandviwalla and PM Shehbaz Sharif today.

The sources said that the meeting has reached a consensus on appointing the governor from local banks.

On July 21, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor would be appointed by next week.

Addressing the media, along with Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the finance minister said that the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Central bank will also be finalized in the ongoing week. “The new SBP governor appointment will be finalised by next week,” he said.

The SBP currently does not have a permanent governor as Deputy Governor Murtaza Syed is running the affairs as the acting governor.