Ishrat Husain

24 Mar, 2013

Comparing former Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Husain with former Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi is highly unfair. Qureshi's name was suggested by the then foreign minister and former Finance Minister of PML Sartaj Aziz to the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and was accepted by him as well as the Army high command. While Qureshi reached highest position in the World Bank available to a non-American national, Husain was only a country director.
Dr Ishrat Husain has been back from Washington D.C. for last 14 years and has served the country in capacity of Governor, State Bank of Pakistan and later as Dean of Institute of Business Administration (IBA) with distinction. Both jobs are of public service in nature.
One can choose friends but not relatives. Khalil Ahmad is a brother-in-law of Ishrat Husain. His closeness to PPP can be judged from his appointment as Chief Collector Pakistan Customs (Karachi) by the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and later as ambassador-at-large for President Asif Ali Zardari to attract investment from China. Khalil has nothing to show or talk about in both jobs, while Ishrat has been a success in both challenging jobs. Dr Ishrat Husain can only be an effective caretaker Prime Minister if he is accepted by both sides ie PPP as well as PML (N).

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