Central bank governor: The iron lady at the heart of Pakistan’s new economy

Shamshad Akhtar breaks the mould in Pakistan. As central bank governor, she has been charged with managing the sudden growth in the country’s banking markets, as well as promoting economic development in some of the country’s more deprived areas – a key tool in the war on terror. Eric Ellis met her in Karachi.

Bank governor shows confidence in the system

Pakistan’s new central bank governor, Dr Shamshad Akhtar

IT WAS FRANCE’S wartime resistance leader and later president, Charles de Gaulle, who lamented how difficult effective governance was in a nation that has 246 varieties of cheese. Pakistan’s new central bank governor, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, would sympathize with the French general as she makes her way to her office in the State Bank of Pakistan building on Karachi’s chaotic II Chundrigar Road, Pakistan’s Wall Street, which the British Raj traders used to know as Macleod Rd.

Access intelligence that drives action

To unlock this research, enter your email to log in or enquire about access