Change of guard: Macroeconomics chief transferred
Main coordinator of Vision 2025 sidelined without investigation.
The government has given the acting charge of chief macroeconomic section to Zafarul Hassan, previously chief poverty section. CRETAIVE COMMONS
ISLAMABAD:
The government has transferred Rai Nasir Ali Khan, chief of the macroeconomics section of the Planning Commission (PC) and co-coordinator of the Vision 2025 – the flagship economic policy document of the new government under preparation − after an aide to the planning minister levelled allegations of indecent behaviour against him.
The Ministry of Planning and Development, which is also the career planning institute of the Economist Group, transferred Khan without launching any investigation, according to officials of the ministry. Khan has been transferred to the Ministry of Commerce to fill the vacant post of Economic Consultant with immediate effect, according to an official statement.
According to sources, Mirza Nawaz, an aide to the minister for planning and development, complained to higher authorities that Khan had abused him. The management did not verify his claim and transferred Khan.
The government has given the acting charge of the chief macroeconomic section to Zafarul Hassan, who had been sidelined for almost a year. Hassan was recently appointed as the chief poverty section. Hassan has vast experience in macroeconomic policy planning and remained a key member of Pakistan’s team that negotiated the 2008 International Monetary Fund’s programme.
Khan was the co-coordinator for Vision 2025 and his removal may affect the work on the document. The planning minister is the team leader of the Vision, while Secretary Planning Hasan Nawaz Tarar is the coordinator. Khan was primarily doing all the work related to the preparation of the Vision.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has recently said that he hoped that the Vision will be presented for approval in the upcoming meeting of the National Economic Council, which is headed by the prime minister. He had told The Express Tribune that the PC was waiting for provincial chapters, which will be made part of the Vision-2025. After the 18th amendment in the constitution, most of the subjects have been transferred to the provinces.
The government has also appointed Dr Muhammad Nadeem Javaid as Advisor for Development Economics and institutional reforms in the Planning Commission. Javaid was an Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Director Executive MBA programme at Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL).
He has joined the Ministry of Planning and Development, according to the official handout. Dr Javaid is a PhD in Economics and has a master’s degree in Innovation and Industrial Dynamics from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. He has over fourteen years of experience in higher education and the financial industry.
Before joining the ministry, he was a member of the Working Group on Regulatory Reforms, Economic Reforms Unit of the Ministry of Finance.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.
The government has transferred Rai Nasir Ali Khan, chief of the macroeconomics section of the Planning Commission (PC) and co-coordinator of the Vision 2025 – the flagship economic policy document of the new government under preparation − after an aide to the planning minister levelled allegations of indecent behaviour against him.
The Ministry of Planning and Development, which is also the career planning institute of the Economist Group, transferred Khan without launching any investigation, according to officials of the ministry. Khan has been transferred to the Ministry of Commerce to fill the vacant post of Economic Consultant with immediate effect, according to an official statement.
According to sources, Mirza Nawaz, an aide to the minister for planning and development, complained to higher authorities that Khan had abused him. The management did not verify his claim and transferred Khan.
The government has given the acting charge of the chief macroeconomic section to Zafarul Hassan, who had been sidelined for almost a year. Hassan was recently appointed as the chief poverty section. Hassan has vast experience in macroeconomic policy planning and remained a key member of Pakistan’s team that negotiated the 2008 International Monetary Fund’s programme.
Khan was the co-coordinator for Vision 2025 and his removal may affect the work on the document. The planning minister is the team leader of the Vision, while Secretary Planning Hasan Nawaz Tarar is the coordinator. Khan was primarily doing all the work related to the preparation of the Vision.
Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has recently said that he hoped that the Vision will be presented for approval in the upcoming meeting of the National Economic Council, which is headed by the prime minister. He had told The Express Tribune that the PC was waiting for provincial chapters, which will be made part of the Vision-2025. After the 18th amendment in the constitution, most of the subjects have been transferred to the provinces.
The government has also appointed Dr Muhammad Nadeem Javaid as Advisor for Development Economics and institutional reforms in the Planning Commission. Javaid was an Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Director Executive MBA programme at Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL).
He has joined the Ministry of Planning and Development, according to the official handout. Dr Javaid is a PhD in Economics and has a master’s degree in Innovation and Industrial Dynamics from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. He has over fourteen years of experience in higher education and the financial industry.
Before joining the ministry, he was a member of the Working Group on Regulatory Reforms, Economic Reforms Unit of the Ministry of Finance.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.