Nobody believed a woman could stabilise economy: ex-finance minister Shamshad Akhtar

Dr Shamshad Akhtar, a macroeconomist and the previous caretaker finance minister, said that no one believed a woman could stabilise the economy while recounting her “compressed” time in the finance ministry on Tuesday. While speaking as the chief guest at the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) women empowerment awards, Akhtar talked about her career in Pakistan and abroad, more particularly her time in the finance ministry, where she said, “Nobody could believe that I could stabilise the economy — I’m not trying to talk about myself. I’m talking about [being] a woman. They thought only men knew it.” “So women can do it, trust me,” she stressed, adding that women had to empower themselves. “None of the civil servants and bureaucrats want to lift the game. You have to do it alone. I just wanted to share this with you,” she stated.