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Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri
Bangladeshi economist (1931–2020) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri (known as S B Chaudhuri; 1931 – 11 November 2020)[1] was a Bangladeshi economist who served as the fourth governor of Bangladesh Bank,[2] the central bank of Bangladesh, from 1987 to 1992, and was also the advisor of the first caretaker government of Bangladesh in 1996.[3][4][5]
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Early life and education
Chaudhuri was born on 1 September 1931 in Bongaon, Nabiganj Thana, Habiganj District, Bengal Presidency, British Raj.[6] Shegufta's father was Dewan Mamun Chaudhuri and his paternal grandfather was Khan Bahadur Wasil Chaudhuri.[3] His mother was Syeda Zebunessa Khatun, daughter of Khan Bahadur Syed Sikandar Ali. Writers Syed Mujtaba Ali and Syed Murtaza Ali were Shegufta's maternal uncles.[3] He traced his maternal descent from Shah Ahmed Mutawakkil, a local holy man and a Syed of Taraf, though unrelated to Taraf's ruling Syed dynasty.[7]
He received a BA (Hons) in economics from the University of Dhaka in the early 1950s. His Masters in International Relations at the same university was not completed due to illness. He later received a MPA (Master of Public Administration) from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1967.[8]
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Career
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Chaudhuri worked as a journalist at the Morning News newspaper in the early 1950s before joining the Pakistan Taxation Service in 1955 after completing the CSS examinations.[6] He served in different branches of the Pakistan Government service as a section officer and deputy secretary. He was a member of the Economic Pool of Pakistan.[6]
Chaudhuri served as the First Secretary (Commercial Attaché) at the Pakistan Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, from 1967 to 1970. Following this, he was Chief Controller of Imports and Exports for the Government of Pakistan from 1970 to 1971.[6] After the independence of Bangladesh, he briefly served as the Director-General of the Export Promotion Bureau. From 1973 to 1974, he resumed the role of Chief Controller of Imports and Exports for the Government of Bangladesh.[6][9] Between 1974 and 1977, he served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and later as Secretary of the Internal Resources Division in the Ministry of Finance. He served as the chairman of the National Board of Revenue from 1981 to 1987.[6]
Chaudhuri was the Governor of Bangladesh Bank from 1987 to 92.[1] He introduced a flexible exchange rate policy for Bangladesh and reduced the value of the Taka to encourage exports.[10] He was a Temporary Alternative Governor of the International Monetary Fund.[11]
After Chaudhuri retired from Bangladesh Bank, he started a column with the Daily Star titled "Along My Way".[6] He served as an Adviser (the equivalent of a cabinet minister) for three months in the Habibur Rahman caretaker government of 1996, which ran the country and supervised the parliamentary elections.[6] He was in charge of the Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Textiles and Jute.[6] He was also the Adviser to City Bank from c. 1993/94 to 1998.[10]
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Death
Chaudhuri died on 11 November 2020 in United Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.[12] He was survived by his wife late Nargis Chaudhuri, son and daughter as well as three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.[8]
References
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