PM Abbasi retains Shaukat Tarin as convener of new EAC

Decision taken despite reservations expressed by adviser

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has decided to retain former finance minister Shaukat Tarin as convener of the newly constituted Economic Advisory Council despite reservations expressed by his de-facto finance minister Dr Miftah Ismail.

The premier has reconstituted the EAC – an advisory body – hardly five weeks before the government is set to announce the budget.

The timing of reviving the EAC that remained inactive during most of the tenure of former finance minister Ishaq Dar surprised many.

“The prime minister has made Shaukat Tarin as the convener of the EAC, which disturbed Dr Miftah Ismail,” said sources in the finance ministry.



A meeting was held between the prime minister, Dr Miftah Ismail and Shaukat Tarin in the PM’s Office on Friday to sort out the differences, according to the officials.

“In order to provide a face-saving to three cabinet members who are ex-officio members of the EAC, the prime minister will himself chair the meeting,” said the officials.

Tarin also told The Express Tribune that the prime minister will be the chairman of the EAC and he (Tarin) will be the convener. But he said that there was no dispute on the convenership and the purpose of his meeting with the prime minister was to know the role of the EAC.

Tarin, who remained the finance minister from October 2008 to February 2010 in the PPP government, said that the EAC role will remain advisory in nature, meaning that its recommendations will not be binding on the government.

He said that the EAC meeting is expected next month.



The prime minister has reconstituted the EAC on March 21 – five weeks before the announcement of the budget and about nine weeks before the end of the government’s five-year constitutional term.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Miftah Ismail, Special Assistant to PM on Revenue Haroon Akhtar, who enjoys the status of federal minister, and Minister of State for Finance Rana Mohammad Afzal are the ex-officio members of the EAC. All them are members of the cabinet.

“The prime minister’s decision to ask his three cabinet members to sit under a private person was not liked by the finance ministry,” the sources said.

Other members of the EAC are: former SBP governor Shahid Kardar, Dr Ali Cheema, Professor Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS); Sima Kamil, CEO of United Bank Ltd; Sultan Ali Allana, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Habib Bank Ltd; Arif Habib, Fawad Anwa, Asif Riaz Tata, Salman Akram Raja advocate Supreme Court, Muhammad Tasneem and Atif Bajwa, a banker.

Atif Bajwa is also a member of the committee that the Supreme Court has constituted to bring the wealth that Pakistanis have stashed abroad back. “However, there are issues of Bajwa’s nationality,” said the sources.

The EAC’s contribution in the economic policy-making may not be very significant, as the government has already made up its mind to give a ‘popular’ budget ahead of next general elections.

“Also, the government has already taken the policy decision of devaluing the rupee against the US dollar and the EAC’s contribution may not be taken very seriously on this matter,” said the sources in the Finance Ministry.

Some of the members of the EAC are in favour of immediately entering into another International Monetary Fund programme to tackle the external sector problems.

But Dr Miftah Ismail has already announced that the government will not avail another IMF bailout package.

The State Bank of Pakistan also announced on Friday its last monetary policy during the current government’s tenure.

It decided to retain the key discount rate unchanged at 6%, which many perceived as a politically-motivated decision.