Ishrat Husain

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Ishrat Husain was the 13th Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan's Central bank. He assumed the office on 2 December 1999, and retired on 1 December 2005 after six years of service.

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[edit] Educational background

Dr. Husain holds a Masters degree in Development Economics from Williams College and a Ph.D in Economics from Boston University. He is a graduate of the Executive Development Program jointly sponsored by Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD.

[edit] Historical experience

Prior to his appointment as Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Dr. Husain was the director for Central Asian Republics at the World Bank. This position entailed a variety of different responsibilities, with the primary focus being the managing of the World Bank's relations, policies, and programs with these countries. Earlier, he was the director of Poverty and Social Policy Department. He was responsible for the Bank's policies and strategy development in such areas as Poverty Reduction, Gender Relations and Dynamics, NGOs, and Reform within the Public Sector. He was the Chairperson of the Public Sector Group.

From 1991-1994, Dr. Husain served as Chief Economist for Africa and later became Chief Economist of the World Bank for the East Asian and Pacific region, with focus on China. He also assisted in the coagulation of the World Bank's strategic approach to Latin American Debt Problems which subsequently resulted in the Bank's support for the Brady Initiative of Debt Reduction.

In 1986, Dr. Husain led the World Bank's team that advanced a Structural Adjustment program in the nation of Nigeria. He did this as the World Bank's Resident Representative. Prior to this, he was responsible for the design of a World Bank program to support Ghana's Economic Reform Program.

Before joining the World Bank, he worked at the Government of Sindh in the Finance department. He held senior managerial positions in the Planning & Development Department of the Finance department.

Indeed, it is without excessive analysis that one can extrapolate the fact that Dr. Husain has held a variegated and powerful assortment of positions as an economist.

[edit] Past positions held

Governor, The State Bank of Pakistan (1999-2005)

Dr Husain held the following positions during his tenure with the World Bank.

  • Director for Central Asian Republics
  • Director, Poverty and Social Policy
  • Chairperson of the World Bank's Public Sector Group
  • Chief of the Debt and International Finance Division
  • Chief Economist of the World Bank for East Asia and Pacific region
  • Chief Economist for Africa
  • Resident Representative in Nigeria

[edit] Awards and Achievements

He was recently awarded the Central Bank Governor of the Year in Asia 2005 Award by Mr Stephen Timewell, Editor-in-Chief of The Banker magazine. He was the first Pakistani Governor of the State Bank to be bequeathed such an honour.

[edit] Links to his articles

[edit] Publications

  • Dollars, Debts, and Deficits
  • Pakistan: The Economy of an Elitist State

[edit] External links


Preceded by
'
Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Succeeded by
Shamshad Akhtar