# Miftah Ismail

Miftah Ismail (Urdu: مفتاح اسماعیل; born 23 July 1965) is a Pakistani political economist who served as the Federal Minister of Finance from April 2022 to September 2022. He had previously served in the same office, from April 2018 to May 2018 in Khaqan Abbasi's cabinet. Prior to that, he served as the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, chairman of the Pakistan Board of Investment and an economist with the International Monetary Fund. He is the current Secretary of the Awaam Pakistan party, a political party he co-founded alongside former Pakistani prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

## Early life and education

He was born on 23 July 1965 in Karachi, Sindh. Ismail received his undergraduate degree in business from Duquesne University in 1985, followed by a Ph.D. in public finance and political economy from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1990. Ismail worked with the International Monetary Fund as an economist based in Washington, D.C. in the early 1990s.
In 1993, he returned to Pakistan to work for his family business, Ismail Industries Limited, a confectionary and snack food manufacturer.

## Career

Ismail joined the Pakistan Muslim League (N) in 2011 and served as the head and vice-chairman of Punjab Board of Investment and Trade from 2012 to 2013.
During the 2013 Pakistani general election, Ismail served as a member of the election strategy team and the manifesto committee of Pakistan Muslim League (N). In October 2013, Ismail became a member of the Board of Directors of Pakistan International Airlines. In November 2013, he joined the Board of Directors of Sui Southern Gas Company. Both of these positions he retained until 4 January 2014, when he was appointed as the head of Federal Board of Investment and was added as a junior member of then Prime Minister Sharif's cabinet. Under his leadership the Board of Investment underwent massive restructuring including winding up of its regional offices. During his tenure at the Board of Investment, the government of Pakistan formulated a new automobile sector policy that has attracted a lot of new investment in the automobile sector.
Ismail has served as adjunct faculty at the Institute of Business Administration and also as chairman of board at Karachi American School.
In December 2017, Miftah was appointed as a finance adviser to then-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. In April 2018, Ismail took oath as Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs in Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's cabinet, where he served until 31 May 2018.
In 2022, Ismail was reappointed to as finance minister but resigned in September of the same year, paving the way for the return of Ishaq Dar Rehan Sheikh.
In June 2023, he was removed by PML(N) as the general secretary of the party, allegedly due to his criticism of Dar's economic policies and dislike by then Chief Organizer of the PML(N), Maryam Nawaz. Later, in the same month, he resigned from all senior positions of the PML(N) and party committees.

### Other activities

* Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2017)
* World Bank, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (since 2017).