Former caretaker finance minister and governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, an independent director, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
According to a PSX notice, Dr Akhtar’s appointment is for a term of three years, which commenced on April 19, 2024.
Dr. Akhtar brings a wealth of experience to the role, having served in various high-profile positions in both national and international financial institutions.
She was appointed as the caretaker finance minister in August 2023 and served until the general elections on February 8, 2024.
She also served as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) from January 2, 2006, for a three-year term, becoming the first woman to lead the country’s central bank.
According to the SBP website, 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 was ADB’s Coordinator for the APEC Finance Ministers Group from 1998-2001 and has served on several ADB committees including the Reorganisation 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.
Her work included papers on the taxation system of Pakistan, the state of intergovernmental fiscal relations, poverty incidence and 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, and Insurance Commission and worked closely with the private sector including the stock exchanges of Pakistan.
Born in Hyderabad, Dr. Akhtar had her earlier education in Karachi and Islamabad. She graduated from the University of Punjab with a BA in 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.
