Ex-SBP Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar Passes Away

ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister and ex-governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Dr Shamshad Akhtar, passed away on Saturday at the age of 71.

Dr Shamshad Akhtar had a distinguished career spanning national and international financial institutions. She served as Pakistan’s finance minister in the caretaker governments formed ahead of the 2018 and 2024 general elections. She also held key leadership roles as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and Sui Southern Gas Transmission and Distribution Company.

Internationally, Dr Akhtar served as Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa region and as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Read more: OpenAI, Anthropic temporarily raise Codex and Claude usage limits for Christmas

Before her appointment as SBP governor, she worked with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where she served as Director General of the Southeast Asia Department from January 2004. She also held senior positions in ADB’s East and Central Asia Department, including Director of the Governance, Finance and Trade Division.

Born in Hyderabad, Dr Shamshad Akhtar received her early education in Karachi and Islamabad. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Punjab in 1974, a Master’s degree in Economics from Quaid-i-Azam University, an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in 1977, and a PhD in Economics from Paisley College of Technology in the United Kingdom in 1980.

Her passing is being widely mourned in political, financial, and academic circles, who have paid tribute to her lifelong contributions to Pakistan’s economic and institutional development.