The new regime is said to have selected Miftah Ismail as its new Finance Minister ahead of critical talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported Bloomberg.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who assumed office on Monday is expected to officially nominate Ismail and the rest of the cabinet within 24 hours. The final decision remains to be made as the new government is still debating how to divide certain portfolios.
Miftah Ismail, who is a former finance minister, will be one of the people in charge of negotiating with the IMF. The government’s economic team will also have to cope with Asia’s second-fastest inflation and dwindling foreign exchange reserves, which have fallen to levels that can only support a few months’ worth of imports.
The former FM told Bloomberg on April 12 that the new government intends to engage with the IMF to stabilize the economy. He said the government would prioritize reducing the fiscal deficit and halting the drop in foreign exchange reserves, which will eventually strengthen the rupee.
Ismail served as the top finance official between 2017 to 2018 in the cabinet of the then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. There is a chance he may have to make way for another former finance minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar if he returns from London, where he currently lives with party chief and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Good Luck Sir for the betterment of dear Land.