Country gets its first female finance secy

The government yesterday appointed Fatima Yasmin as the secretary to the Finance Division under the finance ministry.

She is the first female in the country to have been appointed to the post.

Fatima had been serving as secretary to Economic Relations Division (ERD) since February 23, 2020. She was the first female in that post too.

The post of the finance secretary fell vacant after Fatima's predecessor, Abdur Rouf Talukdar, was made governor of Bangladesh Bank.

Fatima, who joined Bangladesh Civil Service in 1991, earlier served as vice-chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau under the commerce ministry and director general of the Institute of Public Finance under the finance ministry.

She also worked for various ministries, including agriculture, women and children affairs and defence.

Outside the government, Fatima also worked for Asian Development Bank, European Union, and the United Nations' International Jute Organisation.

She completed master's in business administration from the Dhaka University's Institute of Business Administration and also in development economics from Australian National University.

Fatima completed an executive programme on Leading Successful Programmes from John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.