ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi on Thursday nominated Justice Umar Ata Bandial as the new chief justice of the country, Pakistani state media reported.
Justice Bandial will succeed the incumbent Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on February 2, 2022, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
Born on September 17, 1958 in Lahore, Justice Bandial received his elementary and secondary education in Lahore, Kohat, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.
“He secured his B.A. (Economics) degree from Columbia University, USA followed by a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge University, UK and qualified as Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London,” the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s website read.
In 1983, Justice Bandial enrolled as an advocate of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and later, as an advocate of the Supreme Court.
As a lawyer at the LHC, he dealt mostly with commercial, banking, tax and property matters. He also handled international commercial disputes and appeared in arbitration matters before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and international arbitral tribunals in London and Paris.
He was elevated as a judge of the Lahore High Court on December 4, 2004. Justice Bandial is one of the judges who refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), issued by former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf, in November 2007.
He was reinstated as a judge of the Lahore High Court after the country’s lawyers succeeded in their movement for the restoration of the judiciary and constitution against the Musharraf regime.
Justice Bandial served as the chief justice of the Lahore High Court for two years until his elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court in June 2014.
During his stint as a judge of the high court and the apex court, Justice Bandial has issued judgments on a number of civil and commercial disputes, and in constitutional rights and public interest cases.
President Alvi names Justice Umar Ata Bandial as next chief justice of Pakistan
https://arab.news/rphev
President Alvi names Justice Umar Ata Bandial as next chief justice of Pakistan
- He has issued key verdicts in civil, constitutional and public interest cases
- Justice Bandial will take charge as the new chief justice on February 2, 2022
IMF warns against policy slippage amid weak recovery as it clears $1.2 billion for Pakistan
- Pakistan rebuilt reserves, cut its deficit and slowed inflation sharply over the past one year
- Fund says climate shocks, energy debt, stalled reforms threaten stability despite recent gains
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic recovery remains fragile despite a year of painful stabilization measures that helped pull the country back from the brink of default, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday, after it approved a fresh $1.2 billion disbursement under its ongoing loan program.
The approval covers the second review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its climate-focused Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing total disbursements since last year to about $3.3 billion.
Pakistan entered the IMF program in September 2024 after years of weak revenues, soaring fiscal deficits, import controls, currency depletion and repeated climate shocks left the economy close to external default. A smaller stopgap arrangement earlier that year helped avert immediate default, but the current 37-month program was designed to restore macroeconomic stability through strict monetary tightening, currency adjustments, subsidy rationalization and aggressive revenue measures.
The IMF’s new review shows that Pakistan has delivered significant gains since then. Growth recovered to 3 percent last year after shrinking the year before. Inflation fell from over 23 percent to low single digits before rising again after this year’s floods. The current account posted its first surplus in 14 years, helped by stronger remittances and a sharp reduction in imports. And the government delivered a primary budget surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a key program requirement. Foreign exchange reserves, which had dropped dangerously low in 2023, rose from US$9.4 billion to US$14.5 billion by June.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said in a statement after the Board meeting.
But he warned that Islamabad must “maintain prudent policies” and accelerate reforms needed for private-sector-led and sustainable growth.
The Fund noted that the 2025 monsoon floods, affecting nearly seven million people, damaging housing, livestock and key crops, and displacing more than four million, have set back the recovery. The IMF now expects GDP growth in FY26 to be slightly lower and forecasts inflation to rise to 8–10 percent in the coming months as food prices adjust.
The review warns Pakistan against relaxing monetary or fiscal discipline prematurely. It urges the State Bank to keep policy “appropriately tight,” allow exchange-rate flexibility and improve communication. Islamabad must also continue raising revenues, broadening the tax base and protecting social spending, the Fund said.
Despite the progress, Pakistan’s structural weaknesses remain severe.
Power-sector circular debt stands at about $5.7 billion, and gas-sector arrears have climbed to $11.3 billion despite tariff adjustments. Reform of state-owned enterprises has slowed, including delays in privatizing loss-making electricity distributors and Pakistan International Airlines. Key governance and anti-corruption reforms have also been pushed back.
The IMF welcomed Pakistan’s expansion of its flagship Benazir Income Support Program, which raises cash transfers for low-income families and expands coverage, saying social protection is essential as climate shocks intensify. But it warned that high public debt, about 72 percent of GDP, thin external buffers and climate exposure leave the country vulnerable if reform momentum weakens.
The Fund said Pakistan’s challenge now is to convert short-term stabilization into sustained recovery after years of economic volatility, with its ability to maintain discipline, rather than the size of external financing alone, determining the durability of its gains.
