A glance into Muhith's life and works

Abul Maal Abdul Muhith was an economist, writer, diplomat and politician. He served as Bangladesh's Finance Minister from January 2009 till December 2018.

Finance Minister

In office	6 January 2009 – 7 January 2019
Prime Minister	Sheikh Hasina
Preceded by	Mirza Azizul Islam (Acting)
Succeeded by	Mustafa Kamal

MP for Sylhet-1

2009–2018

Preceded by	Saifur Rahman
Succeeded by	AK Abdul Momen

Personal Details

Born	25 January 1934, Sylhet
Died	30 April 2022 (aged 88), Dhaka
Parent	Syeda Shahar Babu
Siblings	Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, Shahla Khatun
Alma mater	Sylhet Govt Pilot School, Murari Chad College, Dhaka University, Harvard University

Early Career

Muhith served as the general secretary of the central committee of the Pakistan Civil Service Association during 1960–1969.

He joined the Pakistan Embassy in the United States as an Economic Counselor in 1969.

In 1966, he was honoured with the Tamgha e Khidmat award by the Pakistan government.

He was the Chief and Deputy Secretary of Pakistan Planning Commission.

He was the first diplomat of Washington Embassy who showed his consent in favour of Bangladesh giving up the side of Pakistan during the Independence War of 1971.

He was appointed the Secretary of Planning in 1972 and Secretary of the External Resource Department of Finance and Planning Ministry in 1977.

2nd innings

Muhith went for self-retirement in 1981 from his service and then he started his second innings of his career as the specialist of economics and development in Ford Foundation and in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

He became Finance and Planning Minister in 1982–83. Next, he worked as the specialist of different institutions of World Bank and the United Nations.

He was the Visiting Fellow of Princeton University in 1984 and 1985.

Muhith took oath as the Finance Minister of Bangladesh government on January 6, 2009.

Muhith retired from Government and from his role as Member of Parliament for Sylhet-1 constituency at the Elections of December 2018.

Personal life

Muhith was the husband of designer Syeda Sabia, and the father of two sons and a daughter.

Their daughter, Samina Muhith, is a banker and an expert in the field of monetary policy. Their elder son, Shahed Muhith, is an architect, and younger son, Samir Muhith, is a teacher.

Source: Wikipedia