Concept
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) () is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope of its functions was considerably enlarged. The State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956, with subsequent amendments, forms the basis of its operations today. The headquarters are located in the financial capital of the country in Karachi. The bank has a fully owned subsidiary with the name SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC), the operational arm of the Central Bank with Branch Office in 16 cities across Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad and the four provincial capitals Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta. The State Bank of Pakistan has other fully owned subsidiaries as well: National Institute of Banking and Finance, the training arm of the bank providing training to Commercial Banks, the Deposit Protection Corporation, and ownership of the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation. In spite of being the world's fifth-largest population, Pakistan is facing a precarious financial situation with a meagre reserve of less than $3.7 billion in the State Bank. This amount is only sufficient to cover a mere three weeks of imports. The country's industry has been severely impacted by import restrictions and a significant devaluation of the national currency. Consequently, public construction projects have come to a standstill, textile factories are operating partially, and domestic investment has notably decelerated. Pakistan's challenging economic landscape has led to a large portion of its population living in rural poverty. Over the years, the country has engaged in more than two dozen IMF deals, but many of these agreements were eventually broken, adding to the complexity of the situation. Before independence on 14 August 1947, during the British colonial era, the Reserve Bank of India was the central bank for the then undivided subcontinent.
