President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed Bahmani to this position in September 2008 after dismissing then-Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri.

Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghadam, a key figure in the Majlis' Economic Commission, opposed Bahmani's appointment and the past dismissal of Mazaheri.

[citation needed] On 28 February 2009, Bahmani vocally criticized other financial institutions for the large injections into their currency supplies to fight the global economic recession.

He said, "the United States of America and some major European countries, they ratified economic stimulus packages and injected thousands of billions of dollars into their economies that would increase inflation in the world in the near future".

In the International Monetary Fund Spring Meeting from April 25–26 in Washington, D.C., Bahmani served as the representative of the group of 24 developing countries, which is known as 'G-24'.