Pakistan appoints new finance minister
Government working on national budget and economic reforms
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed a new finance minister on Friday, replacing Hammad Azhar, who received the portfolio less than a month ago.
Shaukat Tarin, the new appointee, is a banker who previously served in his new post from 2009 to 2010 under the Pakistan Peoples Party administration of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
The news was announced by the newly appointed Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, who detailed the recent Cabinet reshuffle in a Twitter post:
“Prime Minister Imran Khan has made changes in the Cabinet, the details of these changes are attached.”
Azhar will now take the top job at the Energy Ministry.
Shaukat Tarin, the new appointee, is a banker who previously served in his new post from 2009 to 2010 under the Pakistan Peoples Party administration of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
He was given the finance and revenue portfolio after Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was asked to step down last month over what the government described as rising inflation.
The latest change to the ministry comes as the government is working on its annual budget, which is likely to be presented in June.
Pakistan’s economic managers are also implementing structural reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund to help bolster the country’s economy. Besides the two Cabinet changes, Khan also removed Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar from the Economic Affairs Ministry before placing him at the helm of the Ministry of Industries and Production.
Omar Ayub, who was previously supervising the Power and Petroleum Divisions, has now been tasked with Bukhtiar’s role at the Economic Affairs Ministry. Sen. Shibli Faraz has been assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology, which fell vacant when Hussain was appointed minister for information and broadcasting.
“As info minister my task is to change misperceptions about Pak(istan) and highlight the vibrant effort of the Government,” Hussain wrote on Twitter.