Pakistan's new prime minister has appointed 57-year-old economist and businessman Miftah Ismail as the finance minister who will be tasked with quickly arresting a downward economic spiral and getting International Monetary Fund (IMF) talks back on track.
Ismail, who briefly held the post four years ago, brings with him a record of decisive policy action and a close relationship with prime minister Shehbaz Sharif but faces a daunting array of challenges. The former IMF economist, with a PhD in Public Finance and Political Economy from the Wharton School of Business, held the job for a few months in 2018 when he joined a government near the end of its term.
As he returns to the post, central bank foreign reserves have fallen to $10.8 billion from $16.2 billion in just one month, according to the latest figures released on Thursday, providing import cover of only around 50 days, Ismail said. He will also prioritise securing a successful International Monetary Fund review to release a tranche of more than $900 million and unlock finances from other international lenders that require a clean bill of health from the Fund. Ismail has said he intends to restart talks soon to resume the 39-month, $6 billion bailout programme, which Pakistan entered in 2019, but negotiations will be tough with many targets off track. He has also said his foremost task will be to contain a burgeoning fiscal deficit that could hit 6.4 trillion Pakistani rupees ($35 billion), or about 10% of gross domestic product, versus a target of about 4 trillion rupees, by the end of June.
Just prior to his appointment, Ismail had said that tough decisions need to be made. "We cannot let our fiscal and external financial position deteriorate further and have our development partners walk out. Tough choices need to be made," he said in a tweet on Saturday.
Ismail comes from a wealthy family that runs a confectionery business, Ismail Industrial, is expected to have good working ties with Sharif.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU