Shaukat Aziz

Shaukat Aziz (born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani former banker and financier who served as 17th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007, as well as the finance minister of Pakistan from 6 November 1999 to 15 November 2007.

He studied at St Patrick's High School, Karachi.

Shaukat Aziz was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 6 March 1949.

He studied at Saint Patrick's School, Karachi and Abbottabad Public School, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

His father, S.A. Aziz (sometimes Abdul Aziz) was a radio engineer employed in the state-owned Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) as chief engineer.

S.A. Aziz was noted for making singular contributions in the development of Radio Pakistan and was the architect of its external services; for this his father was conferred with state honours by the government of Pakistan in the 1950s.

S.A. Aziz was one of the pioneers who nurtured Radio Pakistan in its days of infancy, and chartered the future roadmap for expansion of its network, technological advancement and growth.

The PBC moved his family to Abbottabad, North West Frontier Province where he attended the Abbottabad Public School.

Later, the family moved back to Karachi.

Aziz matriculated and obtained high-school diploma from Saint Patrick's High School and proceeded to Government College now GCU In Lahore where he passed his inter-level and ascended to attend the Gordon College of Rawalpindi, Punjab province in 1965.

Aziz obtained a BS degree in Economics in 1967 from Gordan College and moved back to Karachi the same year to enroll in a master's programme.

Aziz graduated from the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, and joined the corporate staff of the CitiBank Pakistan in 1969.

Aziz attended the master's programme of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi and obtained MBA in business administration in 1969.

While at the IBA, Aziz secured the internship of US-based Citibank.

After his master's degree, Aziz was called to join the executive senior staff of the Citibank, based in the United States.

Initially, Aziz joined the corporate branch of Citibank Pakistan as its credit officer in 1969.

During his career, Aziz subsequently served in various countries including Pakistan, Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Philippines, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

After arriving to assume the charge of corporate assignment in the United States, Aziz settled in New York City and took over the office operations of Citibank at the Empire State Building.

Aziz acquired permanent residence status, but did not acquire American citizenship, whilst continuing to upgrade his legal status.

In the U.S., Aziz held numerous positions in Citibank across several divisions including Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Corporate Planning Officer (CPO), Chief Financial Officer of Citicorp and managing director of Citibank Singapore.

He has been a board member of Citibank subsidiaries, including Saudi American Bank, Citicorp Islamic Bank, and of several non-profit organizations.

Poverty and inflation rates dropped to 3.5% in the later 3 years, compared to 11–12% in the 1990s.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, all goals and revenue collection targets were met in his tenure, and allocation for development increased by about 40%.

Aziz played a pivotal role in expanding Citibank branches and corporate directive operations throughout the country and was instrumental in bringing multinational banking industries into Pakistan in the 1990s.

At Citibank, Aziz served as the corporate director of Asia Pacific global finance operations and had been notable for financing and managing funds on behalf of Citibank and other financial corporations in global stock markets.

He was also involved with Citi Private Bank, a subsidiary of Citigroup.

In the 1990s, he worked closely with the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to help negotiate economic relief packages and aid to Pakistan, while maintaining diverse relations with Pakistan's Armed Forces who would also visit the United States as part of Sharif's and Benazir Bhutto's state visits.

By the 1990s, Aziz had established many notable contacts within the United States administration.

In a book, Global Financial Warrior, written by John B. Taylor, Aziz had substantial access to the US Treasury, World Bank and many other world financial institutions.

He served in various countries' governments as CitiBank financier, and became executive vice-president of Citibank in 1999.

After accepting a personal request by General Pervez Musharraf, Aziz returned to Pakistan from the United States to assume charge of the Finance Ministry as the finance minister while taking control of the country's economy.

Aziz's macroeconomics policies oversaw political stability and economic progress in Pakistan, subsequently ending the "era of stagflation" in 2001.

Intensified privatisation and economic liberalisation programmes were personally initiated by Aziz, privatising state-owned corporations and strengthening the country's economic base, which led to the improvement of the country's growth rate by 6.4% per year.

In 2004, Aziz was nominated by the Musharraf loyalist government, led by Pakistan Muslim League (Q), for the position of prime minister after the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on 6 June 2004.

Moreover, despite a series of internal and external distresses, the economic situation of Pakistan improved significantly and reserves increased to US$10.5 billion on 30 June 2004, compared to US$1.2 billion in October 1999.

As prime minister, Aziz oversaw the large-scale expansion of military reforms, police reforms, and significant investment in the country that led to the boom of the automotive industry, energy megaprojects, nuclear industry, and the port industry.

This presided over unprecedented GDP growth.

Aziz's policy expanded the internet and telecommunication services, and liberalised the private media of Pakistan as his vision to internationalise the image of the country.

Aziz regarded his career in Citigroup as "extremely helpful" in preparing him for the executive public office, in 2006.

Aziz continued to visit Pakistan, working to expand Citibank's financial services and banking, overseeing the wide expansion of Citigroup's branches and its influence in Pakistan.