The federal government on Tuesday appointed two new external members of independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). According to a notification issued by federal government renowned economists Dr Hafeez Pasha and Dr Naveed Hamid will be external members of the monetary policy committee for the next three years.
Two seats of external members were vacant in third week of January due to completion of three-year term of two external members (economists) - Dr Asad Zaman and Dr Qazi Masood Ahmed. As these members retired in January and federal government delayed the appointment of two external members, the last monetary policy meeting was held without two external members.
Now, the federal government has appointed Dr Hafeez Pasha and Dr Naveed Hamid as external members of the monetary policy committee with effect from January 24, 2019. Sources said the third external member namely Dr Aliya Hashmi Khan was appointed later, therefore she will continue as external member.
In November 2015, the Parliament legislated amendments in the SBP Act, 1956 establishing an independent monetary policy committee empowered to make monetary policy and its allied decisions. Earlier, there was an advisory committee on monetary policy with the mandate to make recommendations to the board, which was entrusted with the powers to make monetary policy decisions.
Independent monetary policy committee comprises ten members including governor (chairman of the committee, three members of the SBP board nominated by the board itself, three senior executives of the SBP, nominated by Governor and three external members, who will be economist and appointed by the federal government on recommendation of the SBP board.
The external members are appointed for a term of three years. Presently, Governor SBP Tariq Bajwa is chairman of the committee, while Khawaja Iqbal Hasan, Ardeshir Khursheed Marker and Hafiz Muhammad Yousuf are member of MPC on three seats of the board members.
In addition, Jameel Ahmed Deputy Governor SBP, Inayat Husain Executive Director FS&BSG SBP and Dr Saeed Ahmed Chief Economists SBP are also members of committee on three seats of senior executives of the SBP. Now, after the two new fresh appointments Dr Hafeez Pasha and Dr Naveed Hamid and Dr Aliya Hashmi Khan will be external member of MPC.
Dr Hafeez Ahmed Pasha is a distinguished economist of Pakistan who has been the Chairman of the Planning Commission''s Panel of Economists, an independent advisory committee for the government. He has served as the dean of the School of Social Sciences at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.
Dr Naved Hamid is Professor of Economics at the Lahore School of Economics. He has a BA (Hons.) in Economics from Cambridge University, UK, and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University, USA. Prior to joining the Lahore School of Economics, he was at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) where he worked in various capacities, including ''Acting Chief Economist for South Asia'' and Deputy Country Director and Team Leader for Pakistan.