Dr. Ishrat Husain has had a distinguished career at the World Bank for over two decades 1979-1999. Among the key positions he held at the Bank were Resident Representative to Nigeria, head of the Bank’s Debt and International Finance Division, Chief Economist for Africa between 1991-94 and later as 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 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 and conditional cash transfer program targeted at the poor households of 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 obtained his Master’s degree in Development Economics from Williams College and Doctorate in Economics from Boston University in 1978. He is a graduate of Executive Development program jointly sponsored by Harvard, Stanford and INSEAD.