Fakhruddin Ahmed (born 1 May 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the

Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh Bank ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক) is the central bank of Bangladesh and is a member of the Asian Clearing Union. It is fully owned by the Government of Bangladesh. The bank is active in developing green bankin ...

, the country's

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

. On 12 January 2007, he was appointed Chief Adviser (Head of the Government) of the non-party interim Caretaker government, during the

2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis The 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis began as a caretaker government (CTG) assumed power at the end of October 2006 following the end of term of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party administration. BNP government increased the age of chief ...

. He continued in that post for nearly two years, a longer than usual time, but new elections were held on 29 December 2008, and the Awami League assumed power based on its majority.

Early life and career

Ahmed was born on 1 May 1940 in Munshiganj to Mohiuddin Ahmed. He studied economics at Dhaka University, where he obtained his BA (Hons) and MA in 1960 and 1961, respectively, standing first in his class both times. He earned a master's degree in development economics from

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

and a Ph.D. in economics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1975. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Migration and employment in a multisector model; an application to Bangladesh." He then became managing director of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), the country's apex micro-finance organisation, beginning on 1 June 2005.

2007 interim caretaker government

On 12 January 2007, President

Iajuddin Ahmed Iajuddin Ahmed (1 February 193110 December 2012) was the President of Bangladesh, serving from 6 September 2002 until 12 February 2009. From late October 2006 to January 2007, he also served as Chief Advisor of the caretaker government. From Oc ...

swore him in as Chief Adviser to the Interim Caretaker Government, after the former interim government under the President was dissolved. Fakhruddin Ahmed is credited with bringing an end to the anarchy that had threatened to sweep the nation. More than 160 senior politicians, top civil servants, and security officials were arrested on charges of

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption * Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant t ...

and other economic crimes. Included were former ministers from the two main political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party, including former prime ministers

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

and

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

, and the former acting prime minister Fazlul Haque. Ahmed fainted while giving a speech at a tree-planting event on 3 June 2007, apparently due to the heat, and was hospitalized. He was released from the hospital later the same day and has said that he was well."Head of Bangladesh's caretaker government leaves hospital"
Xinhua (''People's Daily Online''), 4 June 2007.

References

External links

Fakhruddin Ahmed
on Banglapedia.

''Time''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Fakhruddin 1940 births 20th-century Bangladeshi economists 21st-century Bangladeshi economists Living people University of Dhaka alumni Princeton University alumni Williams College alumni People from Bikrampur Prime Ministers of Bangladesh Bangladeshi bankers Governors of Bangladesh Bank Bangladeshi expatriates in the United States