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| Shahid Hafiz Kardar was governor of the State Bank of Pakistan for just 283 days before he quit on July 18 |
Yaseen Anwar has been appointed acting governor of the State Bank of Pakistan after the country lost its second central bank chief in just 15 months.
Anwar, once a senior private banker at defunct Washington-based Riggs Bank, is widely seen as a makeshift appointment while Islamabad casts around for a serious, long-term appointee.
Shahid Hafiz Kardar, a respected chartered accountant with a masters degree in economics from the University of Oxford, was governor for just 283 days before he quit on July 18. Yet he was a relatively long-term incumbent compared with his fleetingly employed predecessor, Syed Salim Raza, who lasted just 153 days before jumping ship.
Kardar’s abrupt departure is a minor mystery. He appeared to blame the government and a worsening economic climate for his exit. In June his chief of staff, Hamza Ali Malik, warned that rising inflation and soaring debt coupled with slowing growth was a "nightmare" combination.
