ISLAMABAD - The caretaker government on Tuesday has appointed Dr Shamshad Akhtar as Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs amid challenges at domestic as well as on external sector.

Soon after taking oath, she assumed the charge of her duties. She has chaired a meeting to review the economic situation of the country at the Finance division. She has also been given an additional charge of ministry of planning and development, ministry of commerce and textile, ministry of statistics and ministry of production and industries.

Dr Shamshad has been appointed Finance Minister at a time when Pakistan’s economy is facing challenges on external and domestic fronts, as foreign exchange reserves are depleting sharply. The reserves have declined to $10 billion. Meanwhile, the government would have to pay additional $2.5 billion in next couple of months, which would put further pressure on the foreign exchange reserves. The situation may force the caretaker government to consider approaching International Monetary Fund (IMF) for fresh bailout package.

Similarly, the current account deficit is also putting pressure on foreign exchange reserves. The current account deficit widened to 5.3 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product), or $14.035 billion, in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year of 2018. The current account deficit increased 50 per cent from $9.354 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The caretaker Finance Minister would have to adopt tight cash release policy to contain budget deficit at revised target of 5.5 per cent of the GDP (Rs1.8 trillion). Otherwise, the budget deficit would reach to above 6 per cent of the GDP during ongoing fiscal year. Budget deficit during the first nine months (July-March) also widened to a new record of Rs1.481 trillion, amounting to 4.3 per cent of GDP

Earlier, Dr Shamshad Akhtar (Pakistan) was an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the tenth Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. She currently serves as the Coordinator of the five United Nations Regional Commissions.

Formerly, Dr. Akhtar was the UN Secretary-General's Special Senior Advisor on Economics and Finance, and Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She led the UN-wide coordination of the work on the post-2015 development agenda, and was also the United Nations Sherpa for the G20, supporting the Finance Ministers and Central Bankers track.

Dr. Akhtar has previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan. In her capacity as Governor, Ms. Akhtar was also the Chairperson of the Central Bank Board and its affiliates, as well as a Governor of the IMF. She won two consecutive awards as Asia's Best Central Bank Governor from Emerging Markets and from the Banker’s Trust. In 2008, The WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA also recognised her as one of Asia’s top ten professional women.

Dr Akhtar served as Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank. In this role, Ms. Akhtar spearheaded the Bank’s response to the Arab Spring as well as the Arab regional integration strategy and its implementation. She served in the Asian Development Bank for almost 15 years, rising through the ranks from Senior Economist, to the highest professional positions, including Special Senior Advisor to the President of ADB, and Director-General of the South-East Asia region.

Ms. Akhtar was a post-doctoral US Fulbright Fellow at Harvard University, she holds a PhD in Economics and a Masters in Development Economics from the UK, and an MSc in Economics from Quaid-e-Azam University, in Islamabad.