Zafar Masud Profile
Mr. Zafar Masud is a development and social impact-focused banker, entrepreneur, public sector expert, and an author, with around 30 years of proven exceptional success stories in development finance, energy, corporate governance, and management.
He had served at top positions in multinational banks within and outside Pakistan, including American Express Bank, Citigroup, Dubai Islamic, and Barclays (Regional Managing Director Southern Africa).
Mr. Zafar Masud was appointed as Member of the Board of Directors of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in March 2013, and a Member of the most prestigious and coveted Constitutionally Independent Monetary Policy Committee until he departed from the Board to join Government in August 2016. While on the SBP Board, he had served as the Chairman of the Publications Review Sub-Committee.
As Director General of National Savings, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of Pakistan (GoP) for two years (2016-18), he was instrumental in initiating the organization’s digital transformation with the support of the Gates Foundation, the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (formerly DfID) Government of the UK, USAID, and the World Bank. During his tenure at National Savings, he successfully launched welfare products for Differently-abled Persons and Shuhadah’s Families; set in motion the launch of Overseas Pakistanis Savings Certificates and Shariah Compliant Savings Schemes.
Between 2018 and 2020, he had the honor of being the Founding CEO (Interim) for InfraZamin Pakistan (IZP) – a Private Infrastructure Development Group, UK (PIDG) driven initiative – for setting up the first of its kind credit enhancement company in Pakistan for social infrastructure financing, working closely with Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in framing the rules and regulations for functioning of such entities into this critical arena of infrastructure financing in Pakistan.
Mr. Zafar Masud also rendered his services as Director on the Boards of major multinational, public and private sector entities, including InfraZamin Pakistan, Port Qasim Authority, Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power, Gadoon Textiles, Sindh Investment Board, and served as the member of the IMF-motivated Task Force on State Owned Entities (SOE) Law.
Since April 2020, Mr. Zafar Masud has been serving as President & CEO of The Bank of Punjab (BOP) – the second largest public sector bank in the Country with US$ 8 Billion in balance sheet and over 14,000 staff. He is spearheading a strategic transformational drive to steer BOP towards cutting-edge digitally motivated financial institutions to be positioned in the industry’s top-tier banks, focusing on empathy, compassion, and best-in-class corporate governance practices.
Mr. Zafar Masud, as Convener of one of the most extensive wholesale interest-free loan programs in Pakistan — an innovative poverty-alleviation and social-safety project – designed and managed the execution of the program end-to-end with the consent of IMF and the World Bank.
He is leading the Board of Directors of Oil & Gas Development Company Limited – the largest entity in Pakistan in terms of market capitalization with foreign listing, as its non-executive Chairman.
He’s the elected Chairman of Pakistan Banks Association, and Members of, Pakistan Airport Authority Board, National Institute of Banking & Finance of SBP Board, Curriculum Committee of Beaconhouse National University, Advisory Board School of Business Studies of Institute of Business Administration (IBA Karachi), The Institute of Directors – UK, the Executive Committee of the National Alumni Association of Insead — France, and the Milkar Technical Committee — a mental health awareness joint campaign of the Mir Khalil ur Rehman Foundation and the British Asian Trust.
Member of Prime Minister’s Committee on Homegrown (Economic Transformational & Implementation) Plan for Economic Revival and Growth.
Mr. Zafar Masud was decorated with the highest civil award of Hungary in August 2021 for spearheading the initiative to further Hungarian-Pakistan cross-cultural ties by supporting the restoration project of over ~175-year-old subcontinental artwork of Hungarian Artist, August Schoefft.
Mr. Zafar Masud is an MBA (‘93), specializing in Banking from IBA Karachi. He’s also an alum of the world-renowned business school, Insead — Fontainebleau, France, qualified in Corporate Governance.
He regularly contributes to local and international media on topics of banking, economics, energy and management. He is also the author of a publication titled Out of the Box and Out of the Box Volume II“ — a collection of his various newspaper op-eds, and presentations. He co-authored a publication on pension reforms with the DfID/ FCDO consultants for KPK Government. He was featured, the only one outside the Western Hemisphere, in 30 Transformative Insights from Greatest Minds by best-seller author Scott Miller in his book “Master Mentors – Volume 2“.
Earlier in May 2020, he had miraculously survived the PK8303 airplane crash in Karachi. His colleagues dedicated a book to him called “The Miraculous Survivor.” His latest book – SEAT 1C, A SURVIVOR’S TALE OF HOPE, RESILIENCE AND RENEWAL — based on his musings as an air crash survivor – has recently been launched Internationally.
This is Mr. Zafar Masud’s dedicated and official website (zafarmasud.com). Through this website, you can Contact Zafar Masud and keep track of his Publications and Media Coverage.
Mr. Masud also has active social media accounts: LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram