The State Bank of Pakistan is the central bank of the country. Usually the starting point for a central bank is a banking system that is already in place - the banking system necessitates the presence of a central bank. But the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is unique in the sense that it started its function in a newly born country, where it also had to shoulder responsibilities of developing and rehabilitating a banking system and the economy, in addition to the traditional central banking functions. Performance of the Bank since its inception in 1948, as reviewed in subsequent pages, shows that it has faced all the challenges with a great zeal and commitment. The founders of the Bank set a multi-dimensional target before it that included not only regulation of the monetary and credit system but also the growth of this system. The vision of its founders was a stable monetary system in Pakistan with fuller utilization of the country?s productive resources (SBP Act, 1956).