Former State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor and ex-caretaker finance minister, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, was elected as the first female chairperson of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the bourse said in a statement on Wednesday. She was appointed as an independent director on the board last month, was “unanimously elected” in a meeting held yesterday, making her the first female chairperson of the PSX in its 73-year history.

In a statement, the PSX called Akhtar a “veteran of the financial markets of Pakistan”, recalling that she served as SBP governor for three years.

She was involved in the restructuring process of banks in East Asian economies and interfaced regularly with the Bank of International Settlement on Basel Standards.

Akhtar worked with the World Bank for 10 years before joining the Asian Development Bank in 1990, where she was holding a top position, overseeing the bank’s operations in a number of countries. She was the ADB’s expert on South East Asian economies.

She said it was a “proud moment” for her to “represent the Pakistan Stock Exchange as its chairperson and join the efforts of the SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan), the new board and management to take this institution to new heights”.