The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) may be fired if he fails to cooperate with the government to attain growth targets, Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin cautioned on Tuesday.
In a media briefing, Tarin said that the SBP bill would be brought forth in parliament for amendment if the institution did not aid the government when required. Tarin added that the parliament had the power to authorize amendments but believed the situation would not boil down to firing the governor.
Tarin further said that the government would appoint eight members from the bank’s executive board, who would be tasked with strategizing its affairs. The government envisioned turning SBP into a more autonomous body as per the requirement of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) as well as the manifesto of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), added Tarin.
The minister, however, stressed that the SBP would not go out of the government’s control as eight of the ten board of directors would be chosen by the government, in addition to the governor himself.
He went on to talk about the engagement of previous governments with the SBP, saying that they had acquired Rs6,000 billion from the central bank with zero percent interest rate.
