In this episode, Dr. Ijaz Nabi speaks with Dr. Murtaza Syed to discuss what factors led to a full-blown economic crisis in Pakistan, and whether the International Monetary Fund’s intervention would be able to prevent default.
Dr. Ijaz Nabi is Country Director of Pakistan at the International Growth Centre (IGC). He is a member of Pakistan Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, chairs the boards of Punjab Population Innovation Fund and Punjab Skills Development Fund, and is on the board of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). He formerly worked at the World Bank in Washington DC (1986-2008), working in Mexico, Korea, Thailand (leading the World Bank team during the East Asian financial crisis), Malaysia, Korea, Laos and Myanmar. In 2002-2008, he was Manager of Economic Policy for South Asia region.
Dr. Murtaza Syed, the former Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), has more than 20 years of experience in macroeconomic research and policymaking. He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 16 years before joining SBP. Dr. Syed has a Ph.D. in economics from Nuffield College at the University of Oxford.