Renowned banker Muhammad Aurangzeb is likely to be the new finance minister of Pakistan, claims sources. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in the process of finalizing his federal cabinet.
PMLN’s former finance minister Ishaq Dar is probably out of the race citing health issues. He is expected to take up another important post in the cabinet. Dar, who was the finance minister in the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement government faced challenges in reviving the loan agreement with International Monetary Fund.
Muhammad Aurangzeb is HBL’s president as of now. He has extensive international banking expertise, having held senior management positions for over three decades, including as CEO of JP Morgan’s Global Corporate Bank in Asia.
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Additionally, it’s been reported that Sultan Alanna, the chairman of HBL, was initially considered the government’s top pick for the position of finance minister, given his significant background in finance and the economy.
The caretaker finance minister Shamshad Akhtar can also be asked to continue her role as the minister.
However, sources mentioned that Sultan Allana had prior international obligations related to his work with the Aga Khan, which prevented him from taking on the role.
Allana has previously been recognized for his role in developing initiatives such as the Roshan Digital Account and for overseeing the necessary project management to help Pakistan navigate out of the FATF Grey list.
On the other hand, despite all the allegations and protests regarding the investigations of stolen mandate, as claimed by Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf ( PTI), the newly elected Prime Minister has been receiving congratulatory messages from around the world.
Following Shehbaz Sharif’s inauguration as the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his felicitations via an official statement on his X handle, acknowledging Sharif’s second term in office.
After taking charge as the prime minister a day earlier, Shehbaz held a meeting on the economy and ordered to begin talks with the IMF on a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF).