Dr Shamshad Akhtar passes away in Karachi

KARACHI (Dunya News) - Former Federal Minister for Finance and former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, has passed away on Saturday.

According to family sources, her funeral prayers will be offered in Karachi tomorrow after Zuhr prayers.

Dr Shamshad Akhtar assumed office as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan on January 2, 2006, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She possessed extensive national and international experience in banking and finance.

Before her appointment as Governor, she served as Director General for Southeast Asia at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a position she held from January 2004. Prior to that, she worked as Deputy Director General in the same department and also served as Director for Governance, Finance and Trade Division for East and Central Asia at the ADB.

Dr Akhtar began her career at the Asian Development Bank in 1990. After serving as a senior and principal specialist in the financial sector, she was promoted to Manager in 1998. From 1998 to 2001, she also served as Coordinator for the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process at the ADB.

She was a member of several key committees of the bank, including the Reorganization Committee, Appeals Committee and Oversight Committee. Dr Shamshad Akhtar also represented the Asian Development Bank in dialogues with the Bank for International Settlements and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

She was widely regarded as an expert on financial and economic affairs of Central Asian states and Southeast Asia, including the People’s Republic of China.