Pakistan

Aurangzeb made chairman as ECC reshuffled

Key economic body now include ministers of finance, economic affairs, commerce and others

Our Correspondent March 24, 2024

Muhammad Aurangzeb is a seasoned banker with more than 35 years of diverse experience at leading global banks in Pakistan and overseas. PHOTO: FINANCE MINISTRY

ISLAMABAD:

After criticism from all quarters, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reversed an earlier decision and made Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chairman of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet on Sunday.

According to a government notification, PM Shehbaz reshuffled the key economic body, which would now include the ministers of finance, economic affairs, commerce, power, petroleum and planning and secretaries of the key departments.

“The Prime Minister, in terms of rule 17(2) of Rules of Business, 1973, has been pleased to reconstitute the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet,” said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz reshuffled key positions within the cabinet, depriving the finance minister of the chairmanships of two pivotal committees, while carving out a major role for Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in financial matters.

The premier has reconstituted four cabinet committees. Out of these, Finance Minister Aurangzeb was appointed as chairman of only one committee—a departure from past practices, where finance ministers typically chaired three out of those four committees.

The prime minister retained the chairmanship of the ECC instead of making Finance Minister Aurangzeb its head. The prime minister appointed Foreign Minister Dar as the chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) – a position previously held by the finance minister.

According to the new notification, the ECC would comprise ministers for finance, economic affairs, commerce, power, petroleum, and planning, Planning Commission deputy chairman, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor, Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman, Board of Investment (BoI) chairman, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman.

The secretaries included in the ECC would come from power, commerce, communications, finance, industries and production, economic affairs, petroleum, planning, food security, privatisation, railways, poverty alleviation, water resources and revenue divisions.