Shaukat Aziz
Shaukat Aziz شوکت عزیز | |
|---|---|
 Aziz at the 2007 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. | |
| 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office 20 August 2004 – 15 November 2007 | |
| President | Pervez Musharraf |
| Preceded by | Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Mian Soomro |
| 17th Finance Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office 12 October 1999 – 15 November 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Ishaq Dar |
| Succeeded by | Salman Shah |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 6, 1949 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Political party | Pakistan Muslim League (Q) |
Shaukat Aziz (Urdu: شوکت عزیز), (born March 6, 1949 in Karachi, Pakistan) was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2004 to 2007. He became Finance Minister in November 1999 and was handpicked by President Musharraf for the position of Prime Minister after the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on June 6, 2004. He became Prime Minister on August 28, 2004 and served until November 15 2007. He became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to complete a full term in office.
Education
Aziz attended Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi and Abbottabad Public School, Abbottabad. He passed his Intermediate from Government Islamia College, Kot Radha Kishen. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Gordon College, Rawalpindi, in 1967. He obtained an MBA Degree in 1969 from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi, one of the premier business schools in Pakistan. It was during his studies at the IBA that he secured an internship at Citibank and began his banking career.
Pre-politics
In 1969 he joined Citibank, serving in various countries, including Pakistan, Greece, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore. He served as Citibank's head of Corporate and Investment Banking for the Asia Pacific region and the CEEMEA region (Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa); as Corporate Planning Officer, Citicorp; as Citibank's Chief Country Officer in Malaysia and, later, in Jordan. He has been a board member of Citibank subsidiaries, including Saudi American Bank, Citicorp Islamic Bank, and of several non-profit organizations[1].
Finance Minister
On 26th November 1999, while addressing a gathering of PakPAC, a political lobbying sub-body of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA), Musharraf stated that Shaukat Aziz has come to Pakistan with forty other financial experts who have offered free service to revive the Pakistani economy. Then he asked Shaukat Aziz to stand up and introduce himself to the audience.
In November 1999 Aziz became the government's Finance Minister with responsibility for Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics, Planning and Development, and Revenue Divisions. As Minister of Finance Aziz also headed the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Investment, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, and the Cabinet Committee on Privatization.
In 2001 Aziz was declared 'Finance Minister of the Year' by Euromoney and Banker's Magazine.
By October 2007, at the end of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s tenure, Pakistan raised back its Foreign Reserves to $16.4 billion. Pakistan's trade deficit was at $13 billion, exports were $18 billion, revenue generation was $13 billion and attracted foreign investment was $8.4 billion. [2]
Pakistan's fiscal performance was praised by IMF and World Bank [3]. The World Bank further reiterated that Pakistan's Economic growth bolstered International confidence.[2]
World Bank Praises: World Bank President Mr Wolfensohn said, ""The progress has been terrific. Now Pakistan must stay the course until the benefits of its achievements reach the vulnerable sections of the society including the very poor, women, children and the disabled,".[3]
IMF Praises: IMF's new Middle East director Mr. George Abed, said he was "very pleased with the record of Pakistan in the past three years of continued macroeconomic and financial stabilisation and we have begun to think of Pakistan as a country of promise and a country of potentially high rate of growth."[4]
Asian Development Bank also praised Pakistan's Micro-Finance [5]
Prime Minister
Aziz was named by the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) as the next Prime Minister after Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigned on June 6, 2004. He pipped Humayun Akhtar to the post at the 11th hour.
The post was held by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain while Aziz fulfilled the constitutional requirement of securing a seat in the lower house of parliament. Aziz ran from two constituencies, Tharparkar-I in Sindh, and Attock- III, located west of Islamabad[6]. While campaigning on July 29, 2004 Aziz survived an assassination attempt in the small town of Fateh Jang in Attock District. A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a car in which Aziz was travelling, killing his chauffeur and eight others. However, Aziz continued campaigning and won from both constituencies. Since he could retain only one seat, he immediately vacated his Tharparkar seat, preferring to represent Attock, where he had won by 76,156 votes to 29,497.
Aziz was elected Prime Minister by Parliament on August 27, 2004, by a vote of 191 to 151 in the National Assembly of Pakistan, and was sworn in on August 28, 2004. He retained his position as Minister of Finance, and he presided over an unprecedented boom in the Pakistani economy.
Aziz left office on November 16 2007, at the end of the parliamentary term and became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan who left seat after completion of parliamentary term of five years.[7] His party, Pakistan Muslim League (Q), however, refused to offer him a ticket for contesting the 2008 Elections, a mandatory requirement for the second term in the premier post.
Controversy
There have been several corruption allegations against Mr. Aziz, however, no action has ever been initiated as it is generally accepted that Mr. Aziz was not involved.
Mr. Aziz's role, as the Prime Minister, in the Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation process has been criticised. In his capacity as the Prime Minister, he had authorised the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills to the highest bidder after the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation approved the valuation of the mills. The Cabinet Committee decided to issue a Letter of Acceptance to a consortium comprising of Arif Habib Group, Al-Tuwairqi Group and Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works of Russia, for the privatisation of a 75% stake in the mills at the valued rate of US$ 348 million (at the rate of PKR 16.18 per share at the total price of PKR 21. 68 billion).[8] This valuation was reflective of the core operations of the Mill only and did not include surplus land and assets. This was refelective from the documents provided by the Government of Pakistan, to the Supreme Court.
However, in the original bidding there was no mention of any incentives being provided to the successful bidder by the Privatization Commission including the omission of the price of land on which unit/project was situated i.e. 4457 acres and goodwill of the P.S.M.C. The incentives/concessions not advertised but extended to the subsequent successful bidder included:—
(i) The stock in trade contained in the Unit worth about PKR 10.00 billion.
(ii) The commitment of the Government of Pakistan to clear the loan liability of PSMC which was due for the year 2013 to 2019, amounting to about PKR 7.67 billion from the cash of PKR 8.559 billion lying with the Pakistan Steel Mills as per the Statement of Account.
(iii) Refund of PKR 1.00 billion paid in advance as tax to Government of Pakistan.
(iv) Responsibility accepted by Government of Pakistan to satisfy the claim of the workers opting for Voluntary Separation Scheme (V.S.S.) up to PKR 15.00 billion.
According to the report of Valuer (Citigroup Global Markets Limited) the value of the land has not been added in calculating the share price.
The total cost of the Pakistan Steel Mills was PKR 24.7 billion at its incorporation in 1968. The Mills' net assets include 19000 acres of land out of which machinery and plant has occupied 4457 acres of land. From the Financial year 2002-2003 to 2004-2005 the Mills earned a total pre-tax Net Profit of PKR 18.524 billion (US$ 310 Million at exchange rate of July 05).
The minutes of the same meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation revealed that the total value of the mill was well in excess of PKR 1.00 billion. However, all the above mentioned incentives were given to the successful bidders after the bidding process was completed. Therefore, a 75% stake of the mill, which was originally the value of the machinery and plant only was to be privatised for a price of US$ 348 million and as an incentive all the above concessions were provided at a later stage.
These are only the financial irregularities while there have been several procedural irregularities in the privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills.
References
- ^ Profile: Shaukat Aziz - BBC NEWS
- ^ Pak economic growth has bolstered int’l confidence: WB
- ^ World Bank President praises Pakistan's recent economic achievements
- ^ IMF praise for Pakistan - BBC News
- ^ ADB praises micro-finance in Pakistan
- ^ Shaukat takes oath as MNA, Retains Attock Seat - Pakistan Times
- ^ "Soomro takes oath as Pakistan's caretaker PM", Xinhua News Agency, November 16, 2007.
- ^ [1]
External links
- Profile by BBC dated July 30, 2004
- The Turnaround Wizard - Asia Inc. cover story, March 4, 2004
- Asiasource interview of Shaukat Aziz dated April 20, 2004
- Shaukat Aziz's Economic Legacy
- A conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz A South China Morning Post podcast featuring an interview with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, dated 28 March, 2007
- NNDB Profile of Shaukat Aziz
- When Aziz was stared down by Rice
