Syed Salim Raza


Syed Salim Raza is a banker and financier who served as Governor of State Bank of Pakistan from February 2009 till February 2010.

Early life

He holds a combined BA & MA degree from Oxford University where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oriel College.

Finance

Raza succeeded Shamshad Akhtar, who completed her three-year tenure on January 1, 2009. Earlier, he was the CEO of Pakistan Business Council beginning in February 2006. He was the 15th Governor of the State Bank.
Raza worked in international banking for 36 years. His business experience covers credit and corporate finance, real estate and global asset management.
Raza was Country and Regional Head for Citibank across various geographies in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the UK, Central and Eastern Europe. Raza was based in London from 1989 to 2006.
He worked on a variety of associated subjects, both at PBC, and in partnership with multilateral organizations and Government bodies. His SBP and PBC teams have been instrumental in preparing reports, surveys and recommendations covering subjects including corporate and tax law reforms; infrastructure development; public–private partnerships; capital market structure, corporate debt markets; corporate governance and competitiveness capacity building.
As Central Bank Governor, Raza was instrumental in reforming and improving efficiency within the banking sector while simultaneously advancing the causes of financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
Raza's current and previous board memberships include: HBL, Telenor Bank and Planet N Group.
In September 2018, Raza was appointed to the Economic Advisory Council, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.

Family

He is the elder son of bureaucrat and diplomat Syed Hashim Raza, and brother of former CEO of National Bank of Pakistan, Syed Ali Raza. He is married with three children.

Citizenship

Salim Raza is a citizen of the United Kingdom.