An Egyptian-born mother of twins who believes women are hindered by ‘a sticky door’ rather than a glass ceiling yesterday landed one of the biggest financial jobs in Britain.
Dr Nemat Shafik will become only the second female deputy governor of the Bank of England in August.
As well as helping to set interest rates, the Bank said Dr Shafik must also mastermind the ‘eventual exit’ from its £375 billion quantitative easing programme
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| Dr Nemat Shafik |
It is the latest extraordinary twist in the meteoric career of a woman whose childhood experiences might have thwarted others’ ambitions.
She was born in Alexandria, Egypt but her family forced to flee at the age of four to escape General Nasser’s nationalisations of the 1960s.
Robbed of their possessions, they fled to America, and Dr Shafik has subsequently said the traumatic experience has left ‘a strong legacy’.
She said: ‘My father in particular, I think, never got over that, having lost everything.’
But her career has been spectacularly successful ever since, becoming the youngest-ever vice president of the World Bank at the age of just 35.
After leaving the World Bank, she moved to the Department for International Development, rising to become its permanent secretary between 2008 and 2011.
Since April 2011, she has been the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Dr Shafik, who speaks English, Arabic and French, used to be married to the super-wealthy Mohamed El-Erian, the former chief executive of Pimco, the world’s largest bond house.
In 2002, she married Raffael Jovine, with whom she had the twins, and is also step-mother to his three daughters.
Dr Shafik, who is a national of Britain, America and Egypt
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