Akbar Ali Khan (Bengali: আকবর আলি খান) is a Bangladeshi economist and educationist who served as a bureaucrat until 2001. He was the SDO of Habiganj during the Bangladesh Liberation War, when he decided to join the war. Later he served as an official of theMujibnagar Government. After the independence he joined back the civil serviceand reached to the highest post of Cabinet Secretary and also worked as a university teacher.
Towards the end of 2006, he became one of the advisers of the Caretaker Government for a brief period which was led by President Iajuddin Ahmed. He resigned along with three other advisers Sultana Kamal, C M Shafi Sami and Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, after a series of disagreements which included army deployment in the country with the Chief adviser and President Iajuddin Ahmed. In October 2007, the Government of Bangladesh constituted a Regulatory Reforms Commission with him as the chair. Dr. Khan is reputed for integrity, pragmitism and uncompromising attitude. His book Porarthoporotar Orthoniti (Economics of Other-minding) has been a popular book on economics à la Galbraith.
Akbar Ali was born in Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria, a sub-division of the-then Comilla district. He attended Nabinagar High School. He got admitted to the Dhaka College and passed I.Sc. (now HSC) from there in 1961. Then he studied history at the University of Dhaka and completed his Bachelors and Masters from there in 1964 and 1965 respectively, with first class, topping list on both the occasions. Before joining the then Civil Service of Pakistan he served as a teacher for some time. After foundation course at the Civil Service Academy in Lahore (1967–68), he was posted as the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of now defunct sub-district Habiganj in 1969.
During the period of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Prime Minister ship a scandal arose in the Dhaka University teachers about being Rajakar or not. As the Prime Minister asked the Education Minister to make an inquiry in to the matter, he handed it over to Akbar Ali Khan. Khan was apprehensive about this investigation as the law rejects the investigation which discarded it. So he filed an investigation as he was ordered and provided a note mentioning about his opposing points. Perusing his note of dissent, President Abu Sayeed Chowdhury asked the Education Minister to convince Prime Minister about Khan’s points. In this connection Dr. Khan said, "Every time I did not like or felt something that was against the law, I gave written notes, and in most cases my experience is saying it was bound to be accepted".
Retiring from World Bank he established Centre for Government Studies at the BRAC University. Currently he is working there as a visiting professor. Recently he has become a public face as he appears in different TV Talk Shows to explain the current political and economic situation of the country. Besides, he is researching the historic and economic process of the country. On 30 October 2007, Khan was appointed the chairman of the Regulatory Reform Commission to modernize old and ineffective laws of the country. However, he resigned from the post of Chairman of Regulatory Reforms Commission on 16 October 2009 sighting the cause that the government is not co-operating with the work of the Commission.