Dr.
Shamshad Akhtar took over as Governor, State Bank of Pakistan
on 2nd January, 2006 for a three-year term. Dr. Akhtar, who
is the first woman and the 14th Governor of the State Bank since
its inception in July, 1948 brings rich experience, both national
and international, to her new assignment.
Prior to her appointment as SBP Governor, Dr. Akhtar has been
serving the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its Director General,
Southeast Asia Department since January, 2004. Earlier, she
was Deputy Director General of the Department. She also held
the position of Director, Governance, Finance and Trade Division
for East and Central Asia Department of ADB.
Dr. Akhtar began her career in ADB in 1990 and rose to the position
of Manager in 1998 after serving as Senior and Principal Financial
Sector Specialist. She has been ADB’s Coordinator for
APEC Finance Ministers Group from 1998-2001 and has served on
a number of ADB committees including the Reorganization Committee,
Appeals Committee and Oversight Committee etc. She has interfaced
and represented the Asian Development Bank at the Bank for International
Settlements and the International Organization of Securities
Commissions (IOSCO). She has developed a broad regional expertise
in financial and economic matters of Central Asian Republics
& Southeast Asia including the People’s Republic of
China.
Before joining the ADB, Dr. Akhtar worked for 10 years as an
Economist in the World Bank’s Resident Mission in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, she also worked briefly with the Planning Offices
of both the Federal and Sindh Governments. She dealt with wide
ranging subjects which covered analysis of macroeconomic situation,
finance and money and structural reforms of key sectors including
industry and agriculture. Her work included papers on taxation
system of Pakistan, state of inter-governmental fiscal relations,
poverty incidence & its dimensions and foreign direct investment
etc. Dr. Akhtar also contributed to the development of diversification
of financial markets including the analysis of monetary policy
and state of banking industry (at the World Bank) and restructuring
of the Securities & Exchange Commission, Insurance Commission
and worked closely with the private sector including the stock
exchanges of Pakistan. She has been advising the central banks
on reforms of financial markets. Dr. Akhtar has also been dealing
with the banking sector’s legal, regulatory and institutional
reforms while advising on diversification of the industry to
exploit long term funding through development of bond market.
Born in Hyderabad, Dr. Akhtar had her earlier education at Karachi
and Islamabad. She has had an excellent academic record. She
graduated from the University of Punjab with a B. A. Economics
degree in 1974. Dr. Shamshad Akhtar has an M.Sc. in Economics
from the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, an M.A. in Development
Economics from the University of Sussex in 1977 and a Ph.D.
in Economics from the U.K.’s Paisley College of Technology
in 1980. She is a post-doctoral fellowship Fulbright Scholar
and was a visiting fellow at the Department of Economics, Harvard
University in 1987.
Dr. Akhtar has presented numerous papers on economics and finance
at international conferences/seminars/symposia. Her research
interests are on Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Banking and Capital
Market, International Finance Architecture, Regulation and Supervision,
and Industrial & Corporate Restructuring.
