. mr. zahid husain was amongst those great personalities. 8. he never hesitated in accepting the challenging tasks and, in the same spirit, led the central bank successfully in those testing periods of our country ’ s history. the nation also recognized his commendable efforts and has tried to repay her debt to him for the meritorious services rendered for the country. accordingly, on the occasion of the silver jubilee of state bank of pakistan in 1973, it was decided to institute an annual series of lectures and to name the series in commemoration of mr. zahid husain. 9. since then, we have organized 17 lectures in the series and invited eminent economists and financial experts from around the globe as guest speakers. the latest one took place in the year 2010 wherein mr. kent mathews, sir julian hodge professor of banking and finance, cardiff business school, united kingdom shared his thoughts with the audience on “ banking efficiency in emerging market economies ”. these lectures provided an excellent opportunity for the participants to share ideas on issues of topical importance. 10. before moving forward, i would like to express my sincere gratitude to justice ( retired ) nasir aslam zahid – the son of mr. zahid husain – for his attendance. he scarcely needs an introduction. he is one of the most prominent personalities of the country – not only due to his status and accomplishments in the judiciary but also for his postretirement service to the nation. he served all of the judiciary ’ s vital organs – he was the chief justice of sindh high court, then a judge of the federal shariah court, before finally serving the supreme court of pakistan. he enjoys an untarnished reputation within and outside the judicial circle. even after retirement, he has continued serving the nation with his involvement in human rights issues and education. he is currently the dean, faculty of legal studies and the head of the hamdard school of law at the hamdard university, karachi. i am thankful that he has very kindly accepted our invitation and spared the time to grace the occasion with his presence today. 11. now, before introducing our speaker for the day, allow me to humbly add a few words about the role played by state bank of pakistan with regard to today ’ s subject – “ micro - credit and financing of small business ”. first, our own research department has been engaged in documenting, through national surveys, the workings of the product, labor and credit markets of the informal sector

yaseen anwar : micro - credit and the financing of small businesses introductory remarks by mr yaseen anwar, governor of the state bank of pakistan, on the occasion of the 18th zahid husain memorial lecture, karachi, 22 december 2011. * * * honorable chief guest, learned guest speaker, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen! 1. it is my honor to offer these introductory remarks on the occasion of the zahid husain memorial lecture. these lectures, as you know, are organized as our tribute to mr. zahid husain – the first governor of the state bank of pakistan. before introducing our chief guest and lecturer for the day, i would like to briefly dwell upon the personality that was, and the splendid role played by, mr. zahid husain. you may have heard on this topic earlier but it is always heartening to recall stories of success, particularly those that tell of victories achieved while overcoming daunting problems and of the hardships of passing through difficult paths. 2. a close aide of quad - e - azam muhammad ali jinnah, mr. zahid husain was a man who possessed abundant amounts of talent and repute. his illustrious career started from british india and culminated in pakistan, by serving the country at the highest levels of its hierarchy. he taught at aligarh muslim university, he was pakistan ’ s first high commissioner to india, the first chairman of taxation inquiry committee, and the first chairman of the planning commission board, thereby authoring the first five - year plan for pakistan. 3. another feather in his cap was his appointment as the first governor of the state bank of pakistan, which was formally declared open by quaid - e - azam muhammad ali jinnah on 1st july, 1948. as the skipper of the country ’ s central bank, which was described by quaid - e - azam as the symbol of the country ’ s financial sovereignty, mr. zahid husain aptly displayed his potential as an economic administrator. 4. in addition, he anticipated the prevailing as well as future economic problems for pakistan and the importance of economists for their resolution. accordingly, he made efforts to equip the bank with the adequate expertise so as to effectively manage the economic development of the country. his efforts, in this regard, bore fruit and he was able to recruit a stellar group of economists at state bank of pakistan. 5. it is a testament to mr. zahid