Zakiah was the Deputy Secretary-General (Policy) at the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Zakiah joined the public services in 1991 and has spent 28 years of her career life in Economic Planning Unit (EPU) before joining the Ministry of Finance at the end of 2019. While in EPU, she held various portfolios which include macroeconomy framework, knowledge-based economy, and public-sector housing. She is currently serving the MOF, overseeing the national budget, tax policy, fiscal management and macroeconomy, as well as credit reporting agencies and intersperses them with meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Zakiah Jaafar is also involved in various other roles. She served as a director on the boards of Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd and Samalaju Industrial Port Sdn. Bhd. Additionally, she has been a government representative on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Board since February 2020. Throughout her career, Zakiah has been active in various initiatives aimed at improving Malaysia’s fiscal policies and institutional reforms. She has been a prominent figure in discussions about the country’s economic strategies, such as
broadening the revenue base and responding to sovereign credit rating changes.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science (Economics) from University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. In addition, she also completed the Advanced Management and Leadership Programme from Oxford University, as well as the Premier Executive Advanced Development Programme in Canberra, Australia.