26 Facts About Ajmal Ahmady

Ajmal Ahmady is an Afghan-American economist and politician who formerly served as the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, Da Afghanistan Bank, the Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry of Afghanistan, the Senior Economic Advisor to the President of Afghanistan, and represented Afghanistan on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline.

Ajmal Ahmady was born in Afghanistan and grew up in the United States.

Ajmal Ahmady studied at Harvard University, and worked in the fields of economic development and investment management before returning to Afghanistan in 2014 to work in senior positions within the Afghan government.

Ajmal Ahmady was born in Kabul during the same week as the Saur Revolution.

Ajmal Ahmady spent his childhood in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Germany, and the United States.

Ajmal Ahmady's father is from Ghazni Province and is a practicing doctor.

Ajmal Ahmady's brother received a master's degree in finance from Oxford University.

Ajmal Ahmady received a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Master of Public Administration in International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Ajmal Ahmady received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Economics with minors in Computer Science and Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ajmal Ahmady is currently a Senior Fellow at the Mossovar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Mr Ahmady has had an extensive career at the intersection of economic development, asset management, and policy.

Ajmal Ahmady worked as a Microfinance Peace Corps Volunteer in the city of Kumba in Cameroon, the World Bank, as a Senior Advisor at the Afghan Ministry of Finance, the US Treasury Department within the Office of International Monetary Policy researching sovereign debt restructurings, ACAP Partners - an emerging markets private equity group, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Ajmal Ahmady began as a fixed income corporate bond analyst at T Rowe Price, became a sovereign CEEMA analyst at Acadian Asset Management, and was the sole global economist and conducted trades at various emerging market funds at Fortress Investment Group.

Ajmal Ahmady helped coordinate a response to improve Afghanistan's banking sector.

Ajmal Ahmady contributed to Afghanistan's anti-corruption agenda by drafting the national anti-corruption strategy and followed up with key anti-corruption benchmarks.

Ajmal Ahmady represented Afghanistan at the 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen, where he sat on a panel with then World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgia and other dignitaries.

Ajmal Ahmady's responsibilities included managing monetary policy, financial sector supervision, financial intelligence, payment systems, and banking operations.

Governor Ajmal Ahmady launched a successful mobile payments system, and was in the process of nationally launching the program when the Taliban overthrew the government.

Ajmal Ahmady negotiated an IMF Extended Credit Facility program and loan of $370 million in November 2021 and led the successful first review of the program in June 2021.

Ajmal Ahmady left Afghanistan on an American military flight on 15 August, as the Islamic Republic collapsed in light of the 2021 Taliban offensive.

Ajmal Ahmady criticised government figures Fazel Mahmood Fazly and Hamdullah Mohib for being "too inexperienced in their roles".

Governor Ajmal Ahmady has given live interviews, spoken at conferences, written op-eds, interviewed in podcasts, and been featured in numerous media outlets.

Ajmal Ahmady has attended multilateral forums including the IMF 2020 Annual Meetings, the 2018 Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, and the World Bank Seminar on Policy Challenges for the Financial Sector; as well as spoken at numerous think tanks, including describing economic reforms at the Wilson Center, investment opportunities at the Heritage Foundation, and the collapse of the government at the Atlantic Council.

Ajmal Ahmady has been able to provide greater detail of his time as Acting Governor of DAB in various podcasts, including in Bloomberg Odd Lots, Mercatus Center Macro Musings, and Schroder's 'Running a Central Bank with the Taliban at the Door.

Ajmal Ahmady has given briefings to representatives of the US Treasury Department, US State Department, and the Senate Committee on Banking and Finance.

Governor Ajmal Ahmady was referenced in a letter that Portman and Rubio sent to the US Treasury.