Shamshad Akhtar


Shamshad Akhtar was a Pakistani development economist, United Nations diplomat, banker and politician who served as the caretaker finance minister of Pakistan from 2023 to 2024 as well as from 5 June 2018 to 18 August 2018.
Prior to that, she served as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the first woman to assume this position. She also served as a senior adviser to the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and as Vice-President of the World Bank.
In December 2013, Akhtar was selected by the UN Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General and the 10th Chief Secretary of the Monetary and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
In 2023, she served as the caretaker finance minister in the Kakar caretaker government.

Early life and education

Shamshad Akhtar was born in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.
She moved to the United Kingdom on a Commonwealth Scholarship to study at the University of Sussex, receiving an M.A. in development economics in 1977. She moved to the University of the West of Scotland where she was awarded a PhD in Economics in 1980.

Career

Akhtar started her career in 1980 with the Planning Commission in Islamabad but moved a few months later to work with the World Bank's Resident Mission in Pakistan as a country economist. She left in 1986 for a year-long sabbatical to attend John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a postdoctoral researcher under the Fulbright Program.
In 2005, she moved back to Pakistan to serve as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, a position she retained until January 2009.
In 2009, Akhtar re-joined the Asian Development Bank as a senior adviser to Haruhiko Kuroda. She moved to Washington, D.C. to be able to work at the World Bank and served as the Vice President, World Bank Middle East and North Africa region. During this period, she spearheaded the bank's response to the Arab Spring political campaign and the Arab regional integration strategy and its implementation.
In September 2011, she moved to the United Nations to serve as the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Senior Adviser on Economic Development and Finance to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In December 2013, Akhtar was appointed the 10th Executive Secretary of UNESCAP in Bangkok.
In 2020, Akhtar was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to serve on the Advisory Committee for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, chaired by Inger Andersen.
In 2023, Akhtar was appointed caretaker finance minister of Pakistan in the Kakar caretaker government.

Wealth

According to Election Commission of Pakistan, prior to assuming her role as caretaker finance minister in 2023, Akhtar declared her net worth to be. Among the mentioned assets are in Naya Pakistan Certificates, in Pakistani treasury bills, shares of Pakistan State Oil worth Rs. 0.3 million, and residential plots in DHA. Akhtar also had more than deposited in different banks.

Death

Akhtar died on 27 December from a cardiac arrest at the age of 71.

Awards and honours