Until some time back this used to be the only occasion when the Governor went public with his advice. Otherwise, it was the SBP annual report that provided a review of the state of the economy. The first Governor to break with this tradition and publicly speak out in an interaction with the media was Muhammed Yaqub.
He perhaps needed to put public pressure for confirmation of the autonomy granted by the Moin Qureshi caretaker government. And later he also had to obtain public support to put into practice the spirit of the autonomy law. His successor, Ishrat Husain, went a step further. Despite a private caution from the then finance minister, as well as reservations within SBP, he enlarged his interaction through social contacts with bankers and selected sections of intelligentsia, and formalised decision making in SBP through discussion with the Pakistan Banks Association.
He not only interacted with trade bodies of all hues but also willingly presided over social and literary functions. In this way he surely endeared himself to the populace and also lifted SBP's image as an apex institution. There are some well-meaning critics who do not approve of this practice. The high praise, however, that Ishrat is getting upon his departure from SBP reflects his outstanding success.
We have traditionally reproduced the text of then Governor's annual statements at IBP functions, and, followed it with editorial comment. Thus far, we have refrained from making any comment on the award recipients. However, we do feel that this year's winners deserve to be acknowledged outside the banking field as well.
The Quaid-e-Azam Gold Medal was conferred on the President of the Union Bank, Shaukat Tarin, who is reputed for his pioneering role in the development of consumer banking and introduction of credit cards and auto-loans. However, his remarkable contribution in restructuring and rehabilitation of the government owned banks in the 90's is known only to banking circles.
Although Nawaz Sharif inducted him for this very purpose, but half way into the exercise he became a half-hearted supporter because of Tarin's refusal to promote his political agenda with depositor's funds. The heavy handedness of Senator Saif-ur-Rehman is common knowledge, for funding of Nawaz's housing scheme.
Tarin had to battle not only Nawaz Sharif but also Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The then UBL President Zubyr Soomro also stood firm along with Tarin to protect the depositor's funds. This was in sharp contrast with capitulation of others in the state-owned institutions to pressure, who supported the yellow cab scheme.
The other award winner, who received the M.A. Muzzaffar Memorial Medal is Ali Munir. As Habib Bank CFO he formulated a Golden Handshake Scheme to rightsize the bank that was also replicated with success in other nationalised banks. Munir was also responsible for convincing the Government that the then prevailing taxation system was inimical to growth of banking in the country.
After moving to MCB later, Munir at the request of SBP, headed the committee that revised the Agricultural Credit Scheme, which has resulted in providing a larger number of farm households access to bank loans. This has reduced the role of private money lenders and helped in improving the quality of life in rural areas.
The third award recipient was Allied Bank President, Khalid Sherwani. As an I.T. professional he had already turned UBL into a major data processing centre for utility companies and corporate clients in the 70's and 80's.
Later, he took up the challenge to fill the gap as a Chief Financial Officer in UBL, and subsequently served as an able lieutenant to Zubyr Soomro, to rescue UBL and prepare it for privatisation. Later SBP utilised his services to manage Allied Bank when it was forced to take over control of the privatised institution then being mismanaged by the employees buy-out group.
Last August, the government for the first time gave Presidential Awards to bankers for valuable services since 1999. The government also needs to give recognition to other bankers who earlier laid the foundation for rescuing the banking system to build upon.