Dr. Ishrat Husain

Dr. Ishrat Husain, a banker and economist is the Dean and Director of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. He was the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan's Central bank from 2 December 1999 to 1 December 2005. He also leads the National Commission for Government Reforms for two years from May 2006.

Dr. Ishrat 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 Programme jointly sponsored by Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD.

Dr. Ishrat Husain joined the elite Civil Service of Pakistan in 1964 and served in the field and also held mid-level policy making positions in the Finance, Planning and Development departments before moving to Washington in 1979 to join the World Bank as an Economist in West Africa Programs Department. He became the Bank’s Resident Representative to Nigeria in 1983 and led the Bank’s team that assisted Nigeria in formulating its first ever structural Adjustment programme in 1986.

On his return to headquarters, he headed the Bank’s Debt and International Finance Division and contributed to the development of Bank’s strategy that led to World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) participation in the Brady Initiative for Debt Reduction.

As Chief Economist for Africa (1991–94) and later as Chief Economist for East Asia and Pacific Region he guided and supervised the Bank’s analytical work on the countries in these regions. In 1997 he was named the Country Director for Central Asian Republics and managed the World Bank’s relations, programs and policies 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.

Dr. Ishrat Husain became the Governor of Pakistan's Central Bank in December 1999. During the next six years, he implemented a major programme of restructuring of the Central Bank and steered the reforms of the banking sector, which are now recognized by the World Bank and IMF to be among the best in developing countries. The main ingredients of the programme were merit-based recruitment, competency-enhancing training, performance-linked promotion, technology-driven business process and induction of high-level skilled human resources. He placed great emphasis on practicing values such as integrity, trust, teamwork for the entire work force starting from the top.

Dr. Ishrat Hussain has in the past held the following positions;

Served as Chairman, National Commission for Government Reforms (2006–2008), Governor, the State Bank of Pakistan (1999–2005), Director, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi (March 2008–Present).

He has 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 and Resident Representative in Nigeria

Dr. Ishrat Hussain has the following Awards and achievements to his name;

Asian Banker Life Time Achievement Award 2006, Central Bank Governor of the Year in Asia Award (2005) by The Banker magazine, the first Pakistani Governor of the State Bank to receive the award. Jinnah Award (2005) in recognition of his outstanding and meritorious services to people as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and the Hilal e Imtiaz - Conferred by the President of Pakistan 2003.

Following are Dr. Ishrat Hussain's current responsibilities;

Chairman South Asian Network of Economic Research Institutions (SANEI), Member Board of Directors Pakistan National Council of Arts, HEC Distinguished National Professor, Chairman HEC Social Sciences Committee, Chairman Kashf Foundation, Member Board of Trustees - The Aga Khan University (AKU), Member Board of Governors National School of Public Policy (NSPP), Member Governing Council - International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCIEF) Malaysia, Member Board of Directors - National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA), Member Board of Directors  Mahbubul Haq Centre for Human Development, Member Senate Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Distinguished Visiting Fellow Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC), Member Advisory Council Woodrow Wilson Center