Shamshad Akhtar

Shamshad Akhtar
Shamshad Akhtar
شمشاد اختر
	Akhtar at the World Economic Forum in October 2010
Minister of Finance
	Caretaker
	In office; 17 August 2023 – 4 March 2024
President	Arif Alvi
Prime Minister	Anwaar ul Haq Kakar
Preceded by	Ishaq Dar
Succeeded by	Muhammad Aurangzeb
	In office; 5 June 2018 – 18 August 2018
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nasirul Mulk
Preceded by	Miftah Ismail
Succeeded by	Asad Umar
Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP)
	In office; 10 December 2013 – 2018
Preceded by	Noeleen Heyzer
Succeeded by	Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan
	In office; 2 December 2006 – 1 January 2009
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Ishrat Hussain
Succeeded by	Syed Salim Raza
Vice President of World Bank for Middle East and North Africa
	In office; 1 January 2009 – 6 July 2009
Personal details
Born	1954; Hyderabad, Sind Province, Pakistan
Died	27 December 2025 (aged 71)
Party	Independent
Alma mater	University of the West of Scotland (PhD); University of Sussex (MA); Quaid-i-Azam University (MSc); University of the Punjab (BA)

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Shamshad Akhtar (Urdu: شمشاد اختر‎; 1954 – 27 December 2025) was a Pakistani development economist, United Nations diplomat, banker and politician who served as the caretaker finance minister of Pakistan from 2023 to 2024 as well as from 5 June 2018 to 18 August 2018.

Prior to that, she served as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the first woman to assume this position. She also served as a senior adviser to the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and as Vice-President of the World Bank.

In December 2013, Akhtar was selected by the UN Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General and the 10th Chief Secretary of the Monetary and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

In 2023, she served as the caretaker finance minister in the Kakar caretaker government.