ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) appointed Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, a former caretaker Finance Minister of Pakistan, as its first female chair on Wednesday.
A development economist and former central bank governor — also the first woman to assume this position — Akhtar previously served at the Asian Development Bank, was a senior adviser to the then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the World Bank’s vice president for the Middle East and North Africa.
In 2008, The Wall Street Journal named her one of the top ten women leaders in Asia.
She was appointed the PSX chairperson by the exchange’s newly elected board of directors.
“This is a momentous occasion for the women of Pakistan that for the first time in the history of the capital market of the country, a woman has been elected as the Board Chairperson,” the PSX said in a statement.
“Dr. Shamshad Akhtar needs no introduction as she is a veteran of the financial markets of Pakistan,” the PSX said. “She spearheaded the capital market development reforms during her tenure at the Asian Development Bank in 1990s and more recently worked with the industry on the Capital Market Roadmap in her capacity as the Caretaker Finance Minister.”
On her new role as the bourse’s chairperson, Akhtar said she looks forward to “further transform PSX as a premier institution so it can play a critical role in raising its market capitalization through deepening of debt and equity markets, broadening its investor and product base and service efficiently all its clients upholding high standards of governance.”
PSX chief executive Farrukh H. Khan welcomed Akhtar’s appointment: “We are particularly excited and proud to have someone of the caliber of Dr. Akhtar, to be the chairperson of PSX,” he said.
“Her understanding of capital markets and global experience will be invaluable in the development of capital markets and PSX. The fact that she is the first woman to chair PSX adds to our pride and excitement in welcoming her.”
Pakistan Stock Exchange appoints first woman chairperson
https://arab.news/ym7de
Pakistan Stock Exchange appoints first woman chairperson
- Dr. Shamshad Akhtar previously served as governor of Pakistan’s central bank and senior adviser to former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
- In 2008, The Wall Street Journal named her one of the top ten women leaders in Asia
Imran Khan not a ‘national security threat,’ ex-PM’s party responds to Pakistan military
- Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Friday described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat”
- PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan says words used by military spokesperson for Khan were “not appropriate”
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday responded to allegations by Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry from a day earlier, saying that he was not a “national security threat.”
Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), spoke to journalists on Friday, in which he referred to Khan as a “mentally ill” person several times during the press interaction. Chaudhry described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat.”
The military spokesperson was responding to Khan’s social media post this week in which he accused Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
“The people of Pakistan stand with Imran Khan, they stand with PTI,” the party’s secretary-general, Salman Akram Raja, told reporters during a news conference.
“Imran Khan is not a national security threat. Imran Khan has kept the people of this country united.”
Raja said there were several narratives in the country, including those that created tensions along ethnic and sectarian lines, but Khan had rejected all of them and stood with one that the people of Pakistan supported.
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by Raja, criticized the military spokesperson as well, saying his press talk on Thursday had “severely disappointed” him.
“The words that were used [by the military spokesperson] were not appropriate,” Gohar said. “Those words were wrong.”
‘NATURAL OUTCOME’
Speaking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif defended the military spokesperson’s remarks against Khan.
“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said.
“The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”
Khan, who was ousted after a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, blames the country’s powerful military for removing him from power by colluding with his political opponents. Both deny the allegations.
The former prime minister, who has been in prison since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, also alleges his party was denied victory by the army and his political rivals in the 2024 general election through rigging.
The army and the government both deny his allegations.
