Cabinet rejects summary for NBP president’s appointment

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has turned down the summary for appointment of president National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and directed the authorities concerned to re-do the process.

Now the Ministry of Finance will again advertise the post. Rehmat Ullah Hassni has been in the office for over a year. According to the official sources, the NBP president is appointed by the federal government in consultation with the State Bank of Pakistan for three years as provided under Section 11(3)(a) of Banks (Nationalization) Act, 1974.

The position was advertised in the national newspapers on February 13, 2022 and a corrigendum was published on February 15, 2022. In response to the advertisement, 120 applications were received till the closing of the date on March 01. The applications were scrutinized by a short-listing committee headed by the finance secretary.

The list of shortlisted candidates, along with their CVs was shared with the SBP for consultation as required by the aforementioned provision of law. The SBP cleared a total of 17 candidates who fulfilled the requirement of being professional banker.

The selection committee held its meeting to interview the 17 candidates initially cleared by the SBP in November 2022. Out of 17 candidates, 16 candidates appeared for interview (5 in person and 11 through Zoom video link).

The selection committee interviewed the candidates and assessed them on the basis of their professional knowledge and expertise, leadership qualities and communication skills and aptitude for the job and unanimously recommended three candidates in order of merit for appointment against the position including Adnan Aly Agha, Imran Sarwar and Javed kureishi.

Accordingly, the Finance Division proposed Adnan Aly Agha for a period of three years in terms of Section 11(3)(a) of the Banks (Nationalization) Act, 1974, subject to final Fit and Proper Test clearance by the SBP. After a heated debate, the sources said the federal cabinet rejected the summary and asked the authorities to re-advertise the vacant post.