based competitive process at all levels. for example, 11000 applications were received for entry level banking officers ’ positions. about 2600 qualified at the written exam and 50 were finally selected after interview. those selected receive a 9 months extensive training at nibaf and 6 months on - the - job training in commercial banks and various departments of the sbp. middle level managers have also been recruited through the same competitive process. we have hired more than 20 chartered and management accountants, more than 100 high level it professionals including three from wall street to fill in our skill gap. higher educational opportunities are available to staff to improve their academic qualifications or upgrade their professional skills. foreign training and attachment with central banks in england, australia, malaysia, singapore and federal reserve keep the staff abreast with the recent developments and techniques of central banking. the sbp provides full scholarships to young pakistanis who can obtain admission to ph. d. program in economics and finance at any of the top 20 universities of the world. the bank has also set up endowed chairs at economics departments of five pakistani universities to upgrade the quality of economics education. another element of sbp reform program is business process re - engineering under which the existing procedures, processes and reporting requirement are being streamlined, simplified and redundancies eliminated. with the commissioning of the data warehouse project the banks will no longer need to earmark dozens of their employees to fill in the various forms and reports required by the sbp. delegation of authority has empowered officials at the various rungs of hierarchy to take decisions and dispose of the cases. as part of its organizational restructuring the sbp has set up an independent subsidiary - the banking services corporation ( bsc ) to handle all retail banking functions. all the 16 field offices have been transferred to the control of the bsc which is run by a managing director. this arrangement has allowed the governor and senior management to concentrate their attention and energies on the core central banking functions. despite the above achievements we are fully aware that there is no room for complacency. the world around us is changing rapidly and we have to keep up with these changes and adapt ourselves constantly to the new requirements. a dynamic organization cannot afford to stand still we will be faced with unforeseen events. but if the sbp is transformed into a flexible, agile and competent organization the chances of meeting the new challenges successfully will be high. we have still a long and arduous path to travel.

from non - family members. external audit firms have been screened, categorized and rated for purpose of auditing the financial institutions. two top firms were blacklisted and this sent a strong message to the audit community for upgrading the quality of their audit. conflict of interest rules have been explicitly laid down barring those having any potential conflict from becoming involved in the management and oversight of banks. seventh, the accountability arrangements applied to the state bank of pakistan have been strengthened to minimize the potential dangers arising from its monopolist regulator position. an independent board of directors consisting of seven eminent persons of repute and integrity provide the overall oversight on the affairs of the sbp and its management. greater disclosure and transparency have been introduced and international accounting standards with a new audit charter have been put in place. the financial reports and accounts of the sbp are audited both by the auditor general of pakistan and firms of established external auditors. a monetary and fiscal coordination board headed by the minister of finance reviews the monetary and exchange rate policies of the sbp. quarterly and annual reports on the state of economy and the affairs of sbp are regularly submitted to the parliament which, at times, holds hearings and asks questions on important issues. the imf has made an assessment of the sbp ’ s corporate governance and internal controls under its safeguards clause and found them in consonance with international practices. we also observe various international codes and standards on corporate governance, auditing and accounting. capacity building within the sbp most importantly, the state bank has to have a strong capacity and core competencies to implement the above strategy. to this end, a major restructuring and reform program is under implementation for the last several years. the largest automation project in pakistan today is the technology upgradation program at the s. b. p. it will cost more than $ 24 million at its completion but equip the sbp with automated banking solutions, enterprise resource planning tools, data warehouse and connectivity and net working among its field offices and the headquarters. sbp will be able to access real on - time information on the banking institutions and not wait for three months to receive the reports. the ability of the sbp to take timely corrective and remedial actions will thus be enhanced. the most critical asset of a regulating institution is its human resource base. the sbp is undertaking massive retraining of its professional staff in technical skills and recruiting talented young men and women directly from the market through a rigorous merit