Ahmad, Nisar

(Junior Joint Director, State Bank of Pakistan, Faisalabad, Pakistan) Nisar Ahmad was born in 1965 in Pakistan. He obtained a masters degree with distinction in economics from Punjab University in Lahore in 1990. He obtained an MBA with a specialization in Islamic Banking and Finance from International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur in 2008. His professional qualifications include being a Diploma Associate of the Institute of Banking in Pakistan. He completed a one year Correspondence Course in Islamic Law from Shari‘a Academy, International Islamic University, Islamabad. He began his career as Assistant Director of research at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1990 and then joined the State Bank of Pakistan in 1994. He has 17 years of central banking experience in research, policy formulation, bank auditing, and operational fields. Currently, he is working as Deputy Chief Manager at the State Bank of Pakistan, BSC–Lahore, and supervises the banking and development finance divisions. His responsibilities include arranging seminars and workshops in order to create public awareness of Islamic banking, SME, and microfinance. He has written numerous research papers and participated in various conferences on Islamic banking and finance. His areas of research include Islamic microfinance, risk management in Islamic banking and finance, financial stability, zakat and awqaf. He is visiting Faculty Member at the Institute of Banking in Pakistan teaching “Islamic Banking and Finance,” “Laws Relating to Financial Services,” and “Macro Economics and Financial System in Pakistan.”