Dr Reza Baqir assumes charge as Governor SBP

KARACHI: Dr.Reza Baqir has assumed the charge of Governor State Bank of Pakistan after President of Pakistan Arif Alvi appointed him for a period of three years, said an official statement on Sunday.

The appointment came under Section 10(3) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956, said the statement.

The federal government on Saturday appointed Dr Reza Baqir – a Pakistani economist working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – as the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, as Islamabad seeks to finalise a bailout package from the global lender.

A Harvard and Berkeley University of California alumnus, Dr Baqir has been with the IMF since 2000 and is presently the Fund's senior resident representative in Egypt. He has previously served as the head of the IMF Mission for Romania, and as Head of the Fund's Debt Policy Division.

Baqir's appointment comes a day after Tariq Bajwa resigned from the post of SBP governor.