Nizar Baraka

Nizar Baraka
Nizar Baraka
	Nizar Baraka at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia in 2012
President of the CESE ; (Social, Economic & Environmental Council)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 21 August 2013
Preceded by	Chakib Benmoussa
Minister of Economy and Finance
	In office; 3 January 2012 – 9 July 2013
Monarch	Mohammed VI
Prime Minister	Abdelilah Benkirane
Preceded by	Salaheddine Mezouar
Succeeded by	Aziz Akhenouch; (interim)
Minister delegate attached to the Prime Minister for general affairs and Economy
	In office; 14 November 2010 – 3 January 2012
Prime Minister	Abbas el Fassi
Succeeded by	Najib Boulif
Personal details
Born	6 February 1964 (age 60); Rabat, Morocco
Political party	Istiqlal Party
Occupation	Politician

Nizar Baraka (born 6 February 1964 in Rabat, Morocco) is a Moroccan politician of the Istiqlal Party. He was minister of Finance and Economy in the government of Abdelilah Benkirane.^[1]^[2]
Baraka holds a PhD in econometrics from Aix-Marseille University in France. He taught at the University of Rabat and the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, then he joined the Ministry of Finance in 1996 where he held a variety of positions, including that of Deputy Director of the Department of Studies and Financial Forecasts. In 2007, Baraka was appointed Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Economic and General Affairs (2007-2012) then Minister of Economy and Finance (2012-2013). He was named Finance Minister of the Year 2013 for Middle East and North Africa by “Emerging Markets” (The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) and Best Finance Minister for the MENA region for 2012 and Minister of Finance of the year 2012 by The Banker, (the Financial Times press group).

In April 2013,Hamid Chabat Secretary-General of the Istiqlal Party announced his intentions to leave the coalition that forms the cabinet of Abdelilah Benkirane. Consequently, a resignation request was submitted on 9 July 2013 for all the Party's ministers.
On 21 August 2013 he was appointed to head the CESE. He was also the President of the Scientific Committee of Cop22, Chair of the Economic Working Group of the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue and member of the Averroès Committee, charged with strengthening cooperation between Morocco and Spain

On October 7th 2017, Baraka was elected Secretary-General of the Istiqlal party, by 924 votes against 230 votes for his rival and outgoing secretary-general Hamid Chabat.

References

^ "Official Bio" (PDF). Government of Morocco. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
^ MAP (2011-04-18). "Nizar Baraka s'entretient avec Sylvia Solf". Le MATIN. Retrieved 20 March 2012.