Ishrat Husain
From 2018 to July 2021 Dr. Ishrat Husain was Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity with the status of Federal Minister and led the Government efforts to reform the Civil Services and restructure the Federal Government. In this capacity he also served as the member of National Economic Council, ECNEC, Economic coordination Committee of the Cabinet and several other Cabinet Committees.
During 2016-17 he was Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. During this tenure he produced his latest book “Governing the ungovernable’”(OUP).
From 2008 to 2016 he was Dean and Director the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi (IBA) - the oldest graduate business school in Pakistan (established in 1955). During his term in office he was actively engaged in the transformation of the Institute to become one of the leading Global Business schools. He is currently HEC National Distinguished Professor, Professor Emeritus and Chairman Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance at IBA.
For two years (2006 to 2008) he was Chairman, National Commission for Government Reforms with the status of Federal Minister reporting directly to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Commission produced a two-volume report on governance reforms in Pakistan.
In December 1999 he was appointed Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. During the next six years, he implemented a major program of restructuring State Bank and steered reforms of the banking sector. As a member of the economic management team of the Government, he played a key role in the impressive economic turnaround of Pakistan. In recognition of his meritorious services he was conferred the “Hilal-e-Imtiaz” 2003. The Banker Magazine of London declared him as the Central Bank Governor of the year for Asia in 2005. He received the Asian Banker Lifetime achievement award in 2006. The President of Pakistan conferred upon him the highest civilian award of Nishan e Imtiaz in 2016 for his outstanding public service.
Dr. Husain had a distinguished career at the World Bank for over two decades 1979-1999. Among key positions he held were Resident Representative to Nigeria, head of the Bank’s Debt and International Finance Division, Chief Economist for Africa between 1991-94 and later Chief Economist for East Asia and Pacific Region that included China. He became the Bank’s Director, Poverty and Social Department and in 1997 he was named the Country Director for Central Asian Republics
During 2005-06 he was appointed by the Board of IMF as a member of a three-person panel to evaluate the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office.
He was a member of the Mahathir Commission 2020 vision for the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). He also advised the IDB on creating its poverty reduction fund.
He was appointed by the Board of Asian Development Bank to a two-member independent panel to restructure its Accountability Mechanism.
He also served on the Middle East Advisory Group of the IMF, on the Regional Advisory Group of UNDP, as President of the Advisory Council of IDB and as Chairman of the World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on Pakistan until June 2014.
During 2009-10 he was appointed by the Government of Pakistan to chair the Pay and Pension Commission.
Between 2011-14 he served as an independent Director on the Board of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the largest Social safety net program in Pakistan. He was reappointed to the Board of BISP in 2017.
He served as Convener, Economic Advisory Council, Ministry of Finance until 2017 and Member, Advisory Council to the Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms. He was also one of the two non-official members of the Monetary and Fiscal Coordination Board headed by the Minister of Finance until August 2018
He has authored two dozen books and monographs and contributed more than 40 articles in refereed journals and 34 chapters in books. His book “Pakistan: The Economy of the Elitist State” (OUP) is widely read inside and outside Pakistan. His latest research and writings are focused on CPEC and his book “CPEC and Pakistani Economy” has been published by the Centre for Excellence on CPEC in May 2018. He is regularly invited as a speaker to international conferences and seminars and has attended more than 150 such events worldwide since 2006. He has chaired or served on the Boards of several research institutes, philanthropic and cultural organizations.
Ishrat Husain obtained a Master’s degree in Development Economics from Williams College and Doctorate in Economics from Boston University in 1978. He is a graduate of the Executive Development program jointly sponsored by Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD