Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri (known as S B Chaudhuri; 1931 – 11 November 2020) was a Bangladeshi economist who served as the fourth governor of

Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh Bank (BB; ) is the central bank of Bangladesh and is a member of the Asian Clearing Union. It is fully owned by the Bangladesh, Government of Bangladesh. The bank is active in developing green banking. and financial inclusion poli ...

, the central bank of Bangladesh, from 1987 to 1992, and was also the advisor of the first caretaker government of Bangladesh in 1996.

Early life and education

Chaudhuri was born on 1 September 1931 in Bongaon, Nabiganj Thana,

Habiganj District Habiganj District (; ), formerly known as Habibganj District (), is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a successor to its ''subdivision'' status since 1867. It is na ...

, Bengal Presidency, British Raj. Shegufta's father was Dewan Mamun Chaudhuri and his paternal grandfather was Khan Bahadur Wasil Chaudhuri. His mother was Syeda Zebunessa Khatun, daughter of Khan Bahadur Syed Sikandar Ali. Writers

Syed Mujtaba Ali Syed Mujtaba Ali (, ; 13 September 1904 – 11 February 1974) was a Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist. He lived in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanistan and Egypt. Early life and education Syed Mujt ...

and

Syed Murtaza Ali Syed Murtaza Ali (1 July 1902 – 9 August 1981) was a Bangladeshi writer. He was the elder brother of writer and linguist Syed Mujtaba Ali. He is noted for his works relating to the histories of Chittagong, Sylhet and Jaintia. Background and ...

were Shegufta's maternal uncles. 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. He received a BA (Hons) in economics from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

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 The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 1967.

Career

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. 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. 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. After the

independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

, 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. 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 The National Board of Revenue (NBR; ) is the central authority for tax administration in Bangladesh. It is a statutory authority attached with the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance. The NBR collects almost 97% of tax revenue ...

from 1981 to 1987. Chaudhuri was the Governor of

from 1987 to 92. He introduced a flexible exchange rate policy for Bangladesh and reduced the value of the Taka to encourage exports. He was a Temporary Alternative Governor of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. After Chaudhuri retired from Bangladesh Bank, he started a column with the '' Daily Star'' titled "Along My Way". 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. He was in charge of the Ministry of Industries,

Ministry of Commerce A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

, and the

Ministry of Textiles and Jute Ministry of Textiles and Jute (, Pronounce: ''Bostro ō pāṭ Montronaloy'') is Bangladesh's governmental parent agency for the country's Department of Textiles (Bangladesh), Department of Textiles and Directorate General of Jute (Bangladesh), ...

. He was also the Adviser to City Bank from to 1998.

Death

Chaudhuri died on 11 November 2020 in

United Hospital, Dhaka United Hospital Limited () is a private hospital in Gulshan-2, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Mr. Malik Talha Ismail Bari is the Managing Director & CEO of United Hospital Limited. United Hospital Limited along with Evercare Hospital Dhaka are considered hi ...

, Bangladesh. He was survived by his wife late Nargis Chaudhuri, son and daughter as well as three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhuri, Shegufta Bakht 1931 births 2020 deaths People from Nabiganj Upazila University of Dhaka alumni Murari Chand College alumni 20th-century Bangladeshi economists Governors of Bangladesh Bank Advisers of caretaker governments of Bangladesh Harvard Kennedy School alumni 21st-century Bengalis People from Habiganj District