Mr. Waheedullah Shahrani the Minister of Mines

In early January 2010, Mr. Wahidullah Shahrani assumed the role of Minister of Mines, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. At the same time, due to Mr. Shahrani’s strong background and heavy in-volvement with developmental issue, he is also leading the cluster for ‘Economic Development & Infrastructure’, and inter-ministerial commission designed to coordinate and integrate all the major infrastructure programs / projects with the aim to support the private sector and increase the employment opportunities for sustainable economic growth in the country.  This cluster includes ministries such Transport & Civil Aviation, Energy, Commerce & Industry, Communications & Information Technology, Public Works, Urban Development and Mines.

In late December 2008, Mr. Wahidullah Shahrani assumed the role of Minister of Commerce & Industry, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He is principally responsible for the areas of trade, industry, investment, export promotion and the overall private sector development.
Until recently (Jan 2005 – Dec 2008) he served as the Advisor to the President of Afghanistan on Finance as well as the Deputy Minister for Finance (Ministry of Finance).  In those capacities, he was responsible for a wide array of intricate and high-level policy matters.

 Mr. Shahrani was a key interlocutor for the international financial institutions and bilateral donors.  His notable achievements in economic and fiscal reform are recognized by the international community. He played an instrumental role in shaping the nation’s poverty reduction strategy – Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and balancing the policy priorities within the medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF).

 He was the Alternate Governor for the Asian Development Bank, the        Islamic Development Bank, and the World Bank. He was also the focal point of Afghanistan with all the major International development Agencies such as USAID, DFID, CIDA, BMZ, SIDA etc.

Immediately prior to those roles, Mr. Shahrani served as the First Deputy Governor of the central bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) where he was responsible for monetary policy, banking supervision, market operations as well as Alternate Governor of Afghanistan at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While residing in U.K., he served as lecturer in Economics at the Faculty of Business & Economics, Richmond Upon Thames College, Kingston University for two years.
He holds his academic qualifications in economics, banking & finance from U.K. and Pakistan.

 He remains keenly interested in socio-economic research, sub-national governance, administrative reform, economic development, monetary policy and fiscal policy.