ISLAMABAD: Following Dr Reza Baqir, another Top Official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Murtaza Syed has also found his place in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as the Deputy Governor.
Prior to the appointment of Murtaza Syed as the Deputy Governor SBP for a three-year term, the former IMF Official Dr Reza Baqir had already been serving as the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan since May 2019.
Murtaza Syed worked with the IMF at different important positions.
“In pursuance of Section 10 (4) of the State Bank of Pakistan Act, 1956, the federal government is pleased to appoint Murtaza Syed as SPB deputy governor for a period of three years with immediate effect,” stated a notification issued by the Finance Division on Monday.
Murtaza Syed has previously remained as the Deputy Division Chief in the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. He joined the IMF in 2004 and worked in the Fiscal Affairs and Asia and Pacific Departments. He also remained the IMF’s Deputy Resident Representative in China. He had been involved in IMF programs and surveillance of various emerging markets and advanced economies including Colombia, Cyprus, the Euro Area, Korea and Japan. His analytical work has covered macro-financial linkages, fiscal and monetary policy, financial crises, investment, demographics, and inequality.
Before joining the International Monetary Fund, Murtaza Syed worked at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London and the Human Development Center in Islamabad. He has a PhD in economics from the University of Oxford.
Important circles consider this development positive and appreciated the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to install its team from the IMF Corp because in the past Pakistan had a trust deficit with the IMF and the US State Department.
They believe that it will help to gain trust by placing such people who had been working with these two world’s important establishment.
According to them, placing Mooed Yousaf as the National Security Adviser (NSA) and now appointing Murtaza Syed as the SB Deputy Governor seem to be the part of a strategy for developing Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) among Pakistan, the US State Department and the IMF.
Mooed Yousaf was previously working as the Vice President of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) for South Asia.
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures.
The USIP is a Congress-funded institution and closely works with the US State Department.
