Tackling thieves to boosting loans, this Pakistan bank has to do them all

One early priority was clamping down on below-market-rate loans and expensive deposits, which NBP would often resort to in order to meet year-end targets, Ahmad, 69, said in an interview at his office

On his first day as head of Pakistan’s second-biggest bank, Saeed Ahmad visited the branch below his office in Karachi. It was 9:15 a.m., past opening time, but the space was deserted.

Combating such “lethargy” is one of Ahmad’s priorities as he tries to turn around National Bank of Pakistan, which had lost its position as the country’s largest bank by assets and was suffering from bloated costs before he took over last year. From the outset, Ahmad saw fixing the bank’s culture as key to improving its bottom line.

“I was reluctant to come,” said Ahmad, who took over as National