Cabinet to finalise NBP president in next meeting

ISLAMABAD: After short listing of potential candidates, the Ministry of Finance has prepared and forwarded a summary for appointment of President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) which will be considered by the federal cabinet in its next meeting.

“The NBP President decision will be taken in next cabinet meeting,” Federal Minister for Finance Asad Umar confirmed to The News here on Friday. Earlier, the government’s top ministerial team conducted interviews of shortlisted candidates and now summary was prepared and also sent out to Cabinet Division for tabling before the next federal cabinet meeting.

The potential candidates for NBP President included Arif Usmani, Javed Kureshi, Nadeem Lodhi and Wajahat Hussain. Arif Usmani has been head of Risk Management at Mashreq bank PSC since November 20, 2017. He served as Global Head of Wholesale Banking at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC since July 23, 2012. Usmani served as Managing Director and Citi Country Officer of Citibank Pakistan. He started his career with Citi Pakistan in 1981 as a Unit Head for the Corporate Banking Group and since then held a number of senior positions. He has 35 years of experience across and considered as most favorite candidate for the top slot into NBP.