…Pakistan represents one of the world’s most troubling states on the brink of an economic
catastrophe. Record levels of unemployment, unprecedented inflation rates, ever increasing fiscal
deficit and looming energy crises; are just afew of the vices which have crippled my country at a
macro level. Having nearly averted a balance of payments crisis back in 2008, with help from the
International Monetary Fund, my country is once again headed on a path of self annihilation.
Despite being rich in natural resources and self sufficient in food production, Pakistan’s
economic infrastructure is falling apart day by day. One is forced to ponder; but why? What
makes us fail where others have succeed, what makes us weak while other grow strong, but more
importantly, how do we make things right.
A childhood inquisition into finding an answer to these questions is what introduced me to the
world of economics. I want to pursue my masters in Economics. My MBA in the chosen subject
provided me with a well rounded coverage of the discipline. It helped in the development of an
open minded approach towards problem solving, and imparted the necessary training required to
analyze and develop solutions for a range of micro and macro economic problems through
courses such as Micro Economics, Macro Economics, Money and Banking, Financial Markets
and Institutions, Development Economics, Economy of Pakistan etc. With time, what first started
out as mere curiosity, slowly took the form of a passion: a desire to understand and to decode
and to learn how all the dots connect together to form a complete picture. Throughout my BBA
and MBA, I have worked upon several projects and assignments which involved presentations on
economy of developing countries such as Paraguay, writing articles/reports related to economic
affairs. Few of my articles that were published in leading newspapers during my graduation can
be found on following links:
Name: Social Insurance/Security #: Labesh Kumar ** Study Research Objective Page: 1Produced with Embark.Com
Public-Private Partnership for Poverty Reduction:
http://www.thefinancialdaily.com/NewsSearchResult/NewsSearchDetail.aspx?NewsID=102204
and
Yeh Hai Pakistan
http://www.thefinancialdaily.com/NewsSearchResult/NewsSearchDetail.aspx?NewsID=132542.
My interest in learning economics can be seen from the fact that soon after my MBA I joined
State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC), a subsidiary of State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP), the central bank of Pakistan. At SBP BSC I am working as Senior Officer,
Currency Management Unit at Sukkur office and I am responsible for handling currency related
affairs of banks/DFIs and supervising supply chain of currency notes in Sukkur region and also
arranging cash monitoring of commercial banks operating in the region, which impacts the
region’s economy and overall economy as well. Before getting selected as permanent employee,
I have completed a three months training at National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF)
under State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation’s Young Professional Induction
Program. During this training I was taught the practical aspect of central banking, monetary
policy, currency management, international markets, foreign exchanges and other economic
related functions being performed by the central bank. Prior to joining State Bank of Pakistan, I
worked at Aaj TV, one of the leading TV channels of Pakistan as Programming and Product
Development Executive and I was responsible for developing, executing and measuring
marketing and media plans, assisting in content planning in accordance with the market needs,
delivering on channel initiatives campaign, planning and preparing product development kits.
Name: Social Insurance/Security #: Labesh Kumar ** Study Research Objective Page: 2Produced with Embark.Com
During my 2 Years service at Aaj TV I worked on many projects related to economy such as
Election 2013 Campaign in which I was assigned to campaign on power of voting. My last
project at Aaj TV was conducting marketing campaign for Aghaz-e-Safar show directed by the
only Pakistani Oscar Winner (Twice) filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinnoy. The show was based
on socio-economic issues such as water shortage, gun control, medical negligence etc. that are
most prevalent inPakistan and solutions to these issues. The show was declared a hit. I have
also worked on marketing of BBC Urdu’s first ever TV program Sairbeen.
Upon my return, I would like to work as an economist, doing research as well as analyzing
economic issues and also interpreting and predicting market trends. Apart from that, I would like
to work as a policy analyst at State Bank of Pakistan, composing, collecting as well as compiling
information related to the economy and increasing awareness about public issues by
recommending policies to the competent authorities. I would also like to seek employment with
USAID, ADB, World Bank or any of the other international development aid organization
operating in Pakistan as part of their project planning and mobilization team.
Having said this, I would like to sum up my study research objective as pursuing professional
learning in economics. This is only possible if you allow me to study for this field which is rarely
touched in the society where I belong and has lot of potential to serve the society and country
significantly.