Abul Maal Abdul Muhith

{{Short description|Bangladesh politician, economist (1934–2022)}} {{Use British English|date=April 2012}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Abul Maal Abdul Muhith | native_name = আবুল মাল আব্দুল মুহিত | native_name_lang = bn | image = Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith speaks at M.F. Husain solo graphic exhibition in Dhaka 2018-01-24 (PID-0046005).jpg | caption = Abdul Muhith in 2018 | office = Minister of Finance | prime_minister = Sheikh Hasina | term_start = 6 January 2009 | term_end = 7 January 2019 | successor = Mustafa Kamal | predecessor = Mirza Azizul Islam (acting) | president1 = A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury<br />Hussain Muhammad Ershad | predecessor1 = Saifur Rahman | successor1 = Hussain Muhammad Ershad | term_start1 = 27 March 1982 | term_end1 = 31 January 1984 | office2 = Member of Parliament | term_start2 = 6 January 2009 | term_end2 = 7 January 2019 | predecessor2 = Saifur Rahman | successor2 = AK Abdul Momen | constituency2 = Sylhet-1 | party = Bangladesh Awami League | birth_date = {{birth date|1934|01|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Sylhet, Assam Province, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|4|30|1934|01|25|df=y}} | death_place = Dhaka, Bangladesh | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|University of Dhaka|University of Oxford|Harvard University}} | father = Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz | mother = Syeda Shahar Banu | relatives = {{ubl|AK Abdul Momen (brother)|Shahla Khatun (sister)<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%A2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%82-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4?fbclid=IwAR229XHpxG81HFIXrg63NvZbNoFt2NDBYYFD8luTiPRjy6cEozODc8XPUm4 |script-title=bn:একাত্তরে ঢাকা মেডিকেল এবং একটি প্রসবের ইতিবৃত্ত |date=2021-07-28 |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn}}</ref>|Abdul Hamid (granduncle)}} | resting_place = Sylhet | signature = AMA Muhith signature.jpg }}

'''Abul Maal Abdul Muhith''' (25 January 1934 – 30 April 2022)<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-04-30 |title=Former finance minister AMA Muhith no more |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/abul-maal-abdul-muhith-no-more-3015461 |access-date=2022-05-01 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> was a Bangladeshi economist, writer, civil servant, secretary, diplomat and politician. He served as the finance minister of the government of Bangladesh from January 2009 until January 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pressinform.portal.gov.bd/site/page/773a8ddf-c411-4654-9ba9-d821147e1a40 |url-status=dead |script-title=bn:মন্ত্রিগণের জীবনবৃত্তান্ত |trans-title=Cabinet Biographies |date=12 March 2015 |website=Press Information Department, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |language=bn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313165211/http://pressinform.portal.gov.bd/site/page/773a8ddf-c411-4654-9ba9-d821147e1a40 |archive-date=2015-03-13 |access-date=2018-09-19}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Abdul Muhith was born on 25 January 1934, to a Bengali Muslim political family in Sylhet. His father, Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz, a judge by profession, was one of the founders of the Sylhet branch of the All-India Muslim League and took part in the Pakistan Movement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sylhetsadar.sylhet.gov.bd/site/page/5a02709b-0757-11e7-a6c5-286ed488c766/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%20%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC |script-title=bn:সংরক্ষণাগারভুক্ত অনুলিপি |language=bn |access-date=31 December 2018 |work=Sylhet Sadar Upazila |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030203/http://sylhetsadar.sylhet.gov.bd/site/page/5a02709b-0757-11e7-a6c5-286ed488c766/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%20%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC}}</ref> His mother, Syeda Shahar Banu, was one of the leading women of the Bengali language movement. He was the third child in a family of fourteen children. His younger brother is AK Abdul Momen, former minister of foreign affairs for Bangladesh, and his sister is Shahla Khatun, a physician and National Professor of Bangladesh.<ref name=prothomalo>{{cite news |url=http://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/article/1066685/%E2%80%98%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%9F%E2%80%99 |script-title=bn:জীবনটা নিয়ে আমি সন্তুষ্ট |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn |date=25 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/government-affairs/2019/01/07/momen-economic-diplomacy-will-be-my-focus |title=Momen: Economic diplomacy will be my focus |date=2019-01-07 |work=Dhaka Tribune |access-date=2020-01-06}}</ref>

Abdul Muhith passed the matriculation exam from Sylhet Government Pilot High School in 1949.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} He secured first place in his Intermediate examination in 1951 from Murari Chand College. He stood first class first in B.A. (Hons.) in English literature in 1953 from the University of Dhaka and passed his master's with credit from the same university in 1955. While in service to the government, he studied at the University of Oxford during 1957–1958.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muhith's life entwined with Bangladesh |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/city/muhiths-life-entwined-bangladesh-575071 |work=The Daily Star |date=20 February 2016}}</ref> He completed his Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard University in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mof.gov.bd/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=1 |title=A Brief Lifesketch of Finance Minister |publisher=Ministry of Finance, Government of The People's Republic of Bangladesh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927131048/https://mof.gov.bd/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=1 |archive-date=2011-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/04/06/muhith-wants-retire/ |title=Muhith wants to retire |work=Dhaka Tribune |date=6 April 2017 |access-date=2018-02-18}}</ref>

==Early career== {{unreferenced section|date=September 2023}} Abdul Muhith served as the general secretary of the central committee of the Pakistan Civil Service Association during 1960–1969.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Abul Maal A Muhith|url=https://live.worldbank.org/en/experts/a/abul-maal-muhith|website=World Bank Live|access-date=2026-01-30|language=en}}</ref> He joined the Pakistan Embassy in the United States as an economic counselor in 1969.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-finance minister AMA Muhith dies|url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/169421/ex-finance-minister-ama-muhith-dies|website=New Age {{!}} The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh|access-date=2026-01-30|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20220528050926/https://www.newagebd.net/article/169421/ex-finance-minister-ama-muhith-dies|archive-date=2022-05-28|language=en}}</ref> In 1966, he was honoured with the Tamgha e Khidmat award by the Pakistan government. During his service as the chief and deputy secretary of Pakistan Planning Commission, he made a report on the discrimination between East and West Pakistan and that was the first submitted report on that issue in Pakistan National Congress. 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 the Finance and Planning Ministry in 1977.

==Retirement and return== Abdul 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 has been a recognised figure in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, IDB and in different organisations of United Nations. He was the visiting fellow of Princeton University in 1984 and 1985.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Abdul Muhith took oath as the Finance Minister of Bangladesh government on 6 January 2009 and in August 2009 he inaugurated the building of the Benapole Customs and Immigration Check Post.<ref>{{cite news |author=Padmanabhan, Mohan |author-link=Mohan Padmanabhan |url=http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/08/10/75648.html |title=Petrapole, Benapole Customs points to get facelift soon |work=The Financial Express |location=Dhaka |date=10 August 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120911235020/http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/08/10/75648.html |archive-date=11 September 2012 |access-date=2009-08-14 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Abdul Muhith retired from the government and from his role as a Jatiya Sangsad member for the Sylhet-1 constituency at the elections of December 2018. His younger brother AK Abdul Momen succeeded him as the constituency representative.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==Personal life== Abdul Muhith was married to designer Syeda Sabia. They had three children.<ref name=prothomalo/>

On 5 March 2022, Abdul Muhith was taken to Green Life Hospital in Dhaka due to illness.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-finance minister AMA Muhith hospitalised |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/ex-finance-minister-ama-muhith-hospitalised-380449 |access-date=7 March 2022 |work=The Business Standard |date=5 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> He died on 30 April 2022 at United Hospital.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-04-30 |title=Ex-finance minister AMA Muhith passes away |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/ex-finance-minister-ama-muhith-passes-away-411930 |access-date=2022-04-29 |work=The Business Standard |language=en}}</ref>

His funeral (1st namaz-e-janaza) was held on the premises of Gulshan Azad Masjid in the capital of Dhaka.<ref>{{Cite web |last=jagonews24.com |title=First namaz-e-janaza of Muhith held at Gulshan |url=https://www.jagonews24.com/en/national/news/61597 |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=jagonews24.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Criticism== {{criticism section|date=September 2023}} Abdul Muhith faced criticism for his handling of the 2011 share market crash.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muhith must resign for stock crash |url=http://thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=171348 |access-date=2011-10-18 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=24 January 2011}}</ref><ref name=resign2>{{cite news |title=I won't resign: Muhith |url=http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=198890&hb=top |access-date=2011-10-18 |newspaper=bdnews24.com |date=20 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321154116/http://bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=198890&hb=top |archive-date=2012-03-21}}</ref> He admitted to mistakes in his decisions related to the stock market and to mistakes of the Security and Exchange Commission.<ref name=mistake>{{cite news |title=Stock crash: Muhith admits mistakes |url=http://theindependentbd.com/paper-edition/frontpage/129-frontpage/30382-stock-crashmuhith-admits-mistakes.html |access-date=2011-10-18 |newspaper=The Independent |location=Dhaka |date=22 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331144247/http://theindependentbd.com/paper-edition/frontpage/129-frontpage/30382-stock-crashmuhith-admits-mistakes.html |archive-date=2012-03-31}}</ref> Although the opposition leaders and protesting investors called for his resignation, he refused and defended his position.<ref name=resign2 /> He appointed a probe committee to investigate the allegations against the Security Exchange Commission, but refused to publicly disclose the names of those accused by this committee.

Abdul Muhith faced criticism after commenting that the Tk 4,000 crore embezzled in the Hallmark money scam was a "meager amount". He later apologized for his statement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Juberee |first=Abdullah |date=7 September 2012 |title=Hallmark remarks Muhith offers apology |url=http://newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-07&nid=22892 |work=New Age |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116150045/http://newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2012-09-07&nid=22892 |archive-date=2012-11-16}}</ref>

Abdul Muhith was criticised for describing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus's comments as "totally rubbish" and also for saying Yunus had no integrity over the Grameen Bank issue.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muhith terms Yunus's remarks totally rubbish |url=http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=0160134f4214329e47c0dadcb73f646f&nttl=2012090241098 |work=banglanews24.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927093938/http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=0160134f4214329e47c0dadcb73f646f&nttl=2012090241098 |archive-date=2013-09-27}}</ref>

In September 2015, Abdul Muhith faced widespread criticisms for his remarks against the movement of public university teachers of Bangladesh seeking a separate pay scale. He later apologized for his remarks.<ref>{{cite news |title=Private university students in Dhaka protest VAT on tuition fees|url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/09/12/private-university-students-continue-vat-protests|work=bdnews24.com|date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913145209/https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/09/12/private-university-students-continue-vat-protests|archive-date=2015-09-13}}</ref> During this time, he justified the imposition of VAT on private university education by stating that private university students receive 1000 taka pocket money per day. During this time, he made remarks that private university students receives 1000 taka pocket money per day. This caused much uproar among the private university students. Abdul Muhith defended this decision.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Universities, not students to pay VAT: Muhith |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/shout/education/vat-pvt-universities-won’t-be-withdrawn-muhith-140890 |work=The Daily Star |date=10 September 2015 |access-date=2016-01-14}}</ref>

==Works== * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |title=Bangladesh, emergence of a nation |year=1978 |publisher=Bangladesh Books International |oclc=5680759}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=Thoughts on development administration |year=1981 |publisher=Sabia Muhith |oclc=11969817}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=American response to Bangladesh liberation war |year=1996 |publisher=The University Press Limited |isbn=978-984-05-1361-1}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=Bangladesh in the twenty-first century: towards an industrial society |year=1999 |publisher=The University Press Limited |isbn=978-984-05-1446-5}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=Issues of governance in Bangladesh |year=2001 |publisher=Mowla Brothers |oclc=47630531}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=State language movement in East Bengal: 1947 - 1956 |year=2008 |publisher=The University Press Limited |isbn=978-984-05-1795-4}} * {{cite book |last1=Abdul Muhith |first1=Abul Maal |author-mask=1 |title=History of Bangladesh: a subcontinental civilisation |year=2016 |publisher=The University Press Limited |isbn=978-984-8815-24-3}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/book-reviews/quest-knowing-and-understanding-bangladesh-1286011 |title=Quest for knowing and understanding Bangladesh |work=The Daily Star |date=19 September 2016 |access-date=2016-09-22 |author=Alam, Shahid}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{commons}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Muhith, Abul Maal}} Category:1934 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Politicians from Sylhet Category:Murari Chand College alumni Category:University of Dhaka alumni Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:Diplomats for Pakistan Category:Diplomats for Bangladesh Category:20th-century Bangladeshi economists Category:9th Jatiya Sangsad members Category:10th Jatiya Sangsad members Category:Awami League politicians Category:Ministers of finance of Bangladesh Category:Recipients of the Independence Award Category:Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Category:Provisional Government of Bangladesh Category:Sylhet Government Pilot High School alumni