Shaukat Aziz - Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Career and Facts

Shaukat Aziz was born on 6 March 1949 in Karachi, Sindh Province of Pakistan into an Urdu-speaking family. His father S.A. Aziz was a prominent radio engineer noted for making singular contributions in the development of Radio Pakistan for which he was conferred with several honors by the Government of Pakistan.

He received his primary education from the Abbottabad Public School and graduated from Saint Patrick's High School. A good student, he joined the Gordon College of Rawalpindi in 1965 and earned a BS degree in Economics in 1967.

He furthered his education at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi and obtained his MBA in 1969. Intelligent and hard-working, he secured an internship in U.S.-based Citibank while at IBA. After completing his degree, he travelled to the U.S. for his internship.

Shaukat Aziz began his career at the corporate branch of Citibank Pakistan as its credit officer in 1969. He was a diligent employee who quickly rose through the ranks in the organization. Over the ensuing years he worked in several nations around the world including Greece, U.S., Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

During his extensive career with the Citibank group, Aziz held numerous positions across several divisions including Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Corporate Planning Officer (CPO), Chief Financial Officer of Citicorp, Managing Director of Citibank Singapore, and Corporate Director of Asia Pacific global finance operations.

He visited Pakistan many times as a part of his job with Citibank. In the 1990s he was instrumental in bringing multinational banking industries into Pakistan by expanding Citibank branches throughout the country.

As Citibank’s influence in Pakistan grew, he began to work closely with the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on issues related to economic relief packages and aid to Pakistan. During this period his international stature was also growing as he established many prominent contacts within the U.S. administration.

In 1999, Shaukat Aziz was made the Finance Minister of Pakistan, and was entrusted with the responsibility for finance, economic affairs, statistics division, planning and development, and revenue divisions.

During his initial weeks as the Finance Minister he faced considerable difficulties as he was not an experienced politician. However, soon he began implementing radical economic reforms that would earn him much acclaim in the coming years.

He worked closely with the U.S. in the wake of the 11 September attacks and was able to garner U.S. support for his new economic reforms on the domestic front. In 2001 he activated privatization and liberalization in Pakistan which led to rapid economic development in the nation. While lauded for his efforts, he also faced criticisms from his detractors for some of his policies.

In 2004, he was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan by parliament with strong support from General Pervez Musharraf, and was sworn in on 28 August 2004. He also retained his position as Minister of Finance. His government had highly qualified members including Hina Rabbani Khar (economic ministry), Hafeez Shaikh (investment ministry), and Khurshid Kasuri (Foreign ministry).

His tenure as the prime minister brought about a period of economic growth in Pakistan and boosted the country’s international image. Taking forward his policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization, he helped to bring an increase in per capita income, reduction in poverty, and an upsurge in investments.

He stepped down from his post on 15 November 2007, becoming the first Pakistani prime minister to complete a full term in the office. He currently resides in Dubai and serves as a member of several boards and advisory boards of various commercial and non-profit entities around the world.

Following the 11 September attacks in the U.S., Aziz worked closely with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to devise a plan on how to remove Taliban from Afghanistan. He also negotiated debt relief to Pakistan and solicited direct support from U.S. Aid for national public development.

During his tenure as the prime minister, all goals and revenue collection targets were met for the first time in Pakistan's history. His macroeconomics policies ushered in unprecedented economical progress in the nation, bringing about improvement in the country’s growth rate and reduction in poverty.

As the prime minister he diversified Pakistan’s nuclear energy policy and presided over the initial construction of major hydroelectric power plants project in the nation. He also approved the developmental work of CHASNUPP-II reactor at the Chashma Nuclear Power Complex.

During his tenure he strengthened Pakistan’s foreign relations with the U.S., European Union, Russia, India, China, and Saudi Arabia. He implemented a foreign policy that strongly focused on building friendly ties with the international community.

In 2001, Shaukat Aziz was named “Finance Minister of the year” by ‘Euro Money’ and ‘The Bankers’ magazine.

In 2013, he was honored with the Global Islamic Finance Leadership Award for the leadership role that he played during his tenures as Finance Minister and Prime Minister of Pakistan.

He is married to Rukhsana Aziz and has three children.