Former Chairman Standing Committee on Agriculture and Horticulture Exports for Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Ahmad Jawad has said Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), the largest agriculture sector bank, has been running with disbanded board of directors (BOD) and without a permanent CEO for the last more than one year, which is said to be a sheer violation of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rules.
Jawad said that Ministry of Finance has been unable to appoint a permanent head of the country's specialized agriculture sector bank due to various lobbies working to undo the federal cabinet's decision to appoint Shahbaz Jameel as the new president/CEO.
The government's inability to appoint new ZTBL president since October last year has contributed to the slide of the bank, whose loan disbursements and recoveries have dropped, as is shown in the statistics of SBP.
Three months ago, the cabinet approved the appointment of Jameel as president and chief executive officer of ZTBL for three years.
He had been shortlisted from a list of 74 candidates. However, despite a lapse of more than three months, the SBP has not given its decision on the Fitness and Propriety Test (FPT) of Jameel, as SBP's FPT clearance is mandatory for the appointment of heads of commercial banks.
The FPT is said to involve assessment of credentials of proposed appointees in light of applicable laws, rules and regulations and it involves enhanced due diligence including feedback from relevant internal and external authorities.
Once the process is completed, the outcome is conveyed to the bank concerned.
Out of the 74 candidates vying for the post of ZTBL president, a ministerial committee had unanimously shortlisted three names - Adnan Ghani, Shahbaz Jameel and acting ZTBL president Sheikh Amanullah.
In February this year, the cabinet approved the appointment of Ghani as president but he did not take charge.
Subsequently, on July 16, the federal cabinet approved Jameel's name, who was second in the merit order as per recommendations of the selection committee.
Jawad also urged the Prime Minister to appoint a new board of directors as well in ZTBL so that vigilant monitoring may prevail in this organization, and suggested mix team may be chosen for the board which includes academia, progressive farmers, specialized bankers and senior officials from Finance Ministry.
"Similarly ZTBL should also increase its credit limit to support horticulture financing as per guidelines given by the SBP in order to increase country's horticulture exports.
The Bank was disbursing up to Rs 1 million to each agriculturist, which is nothing if we compare it with the lending facility of NBP and BoP."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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