Does a country need an economist to run economy?

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Senator Shibli Faraz claims that a banker is not an economist and the current Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is running the country’s economy through loans only. “Does it require an economics degree to run a country’s economy? The answer to this question is “no”, as some of the leading world economies, including USA, the UK and India, are/were run by non-economists.

Addressing the Senate session on Tuesday, Faraz said, “The finance minister is a very good human being and a very successful banker. Had he sought my opinion about his joining politics, I would have never suggested that he leave the banking job. There were several bankers who worked as finance minister, including the one during our (PTI) regime. But they are not economists.”

Looking at the profiles of present/past finance ministers of other countries, there are many examples that the holders of such key positions did not necessarily have a degree in economics.

Senator Shibli Faraz’s remarks that running a country’s economy needs one to have an economics degree is a lame objection. India’s former finance minister Arun Jaitly, Pranab Mukherji and P Chidambaram did not have an economics degree. Several US treasury secretaries Janet Yellen, Steven Mnuchi and Jack Lew were not economists. Moreover, several Chancellors of Exchequer were also not economists. Similarly, in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, many finance ministers did not hold economics degrees but they ran the country’s economy successfully. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb holds a BS and MBA degrees from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). He was ranked among the top five highest-paid bank CEOs. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Habib Bank Limited (HBL). The 2023 annual report of HBL reveals that Muhammad Aurangzeb received an annual salary and other perks totaling Rs352 million from the bank, equating to nearly Rs3 crore per month, placing him among the top five highest-paid CEOs in Pakistan. Before taking charge as Finance Minister, Aurangzeb applied to renounce his dual citizenship. It is noteworthy that Muhammad Aurangzeb has been associated with HBL since April 2018 as President and CEO. Before this, he served as CEO for JP Morgan’s Global Corporate Bank in Asia, accumulating over 30 years of rich international banking experience in other senior management roles at ABN AMRO and RBS based in Amsterdam and Singapore. Aurangzeb obtained his BS and MBA degrees from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).He was one of the highest paid bankers in those international financial institutions. Aurangzeb has been working under the leadership of Chairman HBL Sultan Ali Allana, who has been credited in the past for conceptualising Roshan Digital and behind-the-scene-project management required to get Pakistan out of the FATF Grey List.