KARACHI: Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, the former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, passed away in Karachi on Saturday due to cardiac arrest.
She served as the 14th governor of SBP from January 2, 2006, becoming the first woman to hold the position. With significant national and international banking expertise, she had a remarkable career. Before her SBP tenure, she was director general for ADB’s Southeast Asia Department since 2004 and began her ADB career in 1990, holding various senior roles.
From 1998 to 2001, she also acted as ADB’s APEC Finance Ministers’ Group coordinator and contributed to key committees, engaging with institutions like the Bank for International Settlements and IOSCO.
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar briefly served as Pakistan’s finance minister in caretaker governments before the 2018 and 2024 elections. She held in-depth knowledge of financial and economic issues across Central and Southeast Asia, including China.
Earlier roles included ten years as an economist at the World Bank’s Pakistan mission and stints with federal and provincial planning departments. Her work encompassed macroeconomic analysis, finance, policy reform, and sectoral development. She authored works on fiscal relations, poverty, FDI, and irrigation systems in Pakistan.
Dr. Shamshad reshaped financial markets in Pakistan, focusing on monetary policy, banking reforms, and market diversification. She worked on revamping the SECP, reforming the insurance sector, advising central banks, and developing bond markets alongside private entities like the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Born in Hyderabad, she excelled academically, completing her BA in Economics at the University of the Punjab in 1974, MSc from Quaid-e-Azam University in 1977, an MA in Development Economics from Sussex University the same year, and a PhD in Economics from Paisley College of Technology in 1980. She was also a Fulbright Scholar and visiting fellow at Harvard in 1987.
An accomplished researcher and speaker, she presented extensively on finance and economics globally. Her interests included fiscal policy, capital markets, international financial systems, and corporate restructuring.
According to the source, her funeral prayers will be offered in Karachi tomorrow after Zuhr.
