Finance ministry handpicks candidates for NBP president post 

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has reportedly handpicked 10 candidates for the post of president/CEO of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Sources said that Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has reportedly selected 10 out of 40 candidates of his own choice after the period of six months. These candidates include Tahir Hassan, Javed Kureishi, Hasan Raza, Khursheed Zafar, Tahir Yaqoob Bhatti, Farukh Iqbal Khan, Sultana Naheed, Tariq Javed Ghuman, Muhammad Abdullah ahmad and Imran Serwar. 

Overall, the Ministry of Finance has received 120 applications for the post.

According to documents available with Profit, a seven member interview committee comprising the finance minister, State Minister for Finance and Revenue Ayesha Ghous Pasha, finance secretary, additional finance secretary, Tariq Bajwa, Jehzaib Khan and Shahid Mahmood will conduct the interviews on August 13.

Sources said that there is a bone of contention between Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and State Minister for Finance Ayeha Ghous Pasha over the appointment whereas the latter is reportedly lobbying for a few candidates.

They said that Miftah had initially excluded Pasha’s recommended names from the list, however, there are chances that the Ministry of Finance will add some more names on Wednesday on the instructions of the PM Office.

It may be recalled that the government on May 11 had assigned the look after charge for the post to group chief CIBG Rehmat Ali Hasnie to dispose of day to day affairs of…