SBP celebrates 70 years of professional excellence

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) held a ceremony to mark its 70th anniversary on Sunday, where Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar unveiled the commemorative stamp issued by Pakistan Post to mark the milestone, a statement said.

Caretaker finance minister, who is also a former governor of the SBP, inaugurated the exhibition at the SBP Museum and Art Gallery.

SBP’s senior most employee, 95-year old MW Farooqui, who has the distinction of attending the first inauguration by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on July 1, 1948 inaugurated the Open House.

The bank organised an insightful panel discussion covering a wide variety of topics including macroeconomic management, SBP’s conduct of monetary policy and role in promotion of credit extension to priority areas, and use of digital innovations and technology in providing banking services.

The participants of the discussion included SBP Governor Tariq Bajwa, and former governors Dr Ishrat Husain, Yaseen Anwar, and Ashraf Mahmood Wathra. The participants shared their thoughts and candid views on their experiences and future vision for the bank and congratulated executives and staff of the State Bank of Pakistan for achieving several milestones in its 70 years’ journey.

Governor Tariq Bajwa said the SBP had always strived to live up to the expectations of Quaid-e-Azam pertaining to professionalism and forward-looking approach in discharging its mandate.

A special documentary was also screened during the seminar to portray the challenges confronted by the bank right after its inception, and its subsequent journey towards professional excellence.

Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair, Pakistan Post Postmaster General Akbar Ali Dero, former State Bank of Pakistan governors, the SBP Board members, diplomats, media personalities, presidents and CEOs of commercial banks and dignitaries of the city, attended the seminar.

A cross section of society attended the programmes which shared the history to bridge the information gap on various functions and achievements of the bank and its subsidiaries, the statement added.