The governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Ashraf Wathra, was named Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor of the year for 2016. The reception took place at the National Press Club in Washington DC at the annual IMF/World Bank meeting. It took place this Friday as a Pakistani became the Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor.
This central banking community has the best known figures ever as it has won this award for past 30 years. Wathra is now in this list as Clive Horwood presented him the award. His role to boost Pakistan’s financial credibility in the community was acknowledged. Wathra became the SBP governor in 2014. Since then he has made Pakistan one the best performing countries in the Euromoney Country Risk rankings. There have been sharp improvements in its overall political scores. These have been rated by economists and analysts through many measuring risk factors.
The reasons
It has listed many indicators for the rating while these are given as follows
- Pakistan’s currency stability
- Successful completion of the IMF program
- Transition of economy from stabilization period to potential growth period
- Improvement of governance for both central banks and Pakistan’s overall banking system
- Reduction of direct government financing from the central bank
Moreover, they say all these have improved the banking sector profitability and efficiency for allocation. They have boosted the country’s capital markets and brought about international confidence for Pakistan’s future.
Lastly, Wathra is also lauded for bringing about financial services to many unbanked in the country. This is because here only one in five people have a bank account. They say the fruits for this will surely become apparent in the years to come.
