TLTP
ISLAMABAD,
The federal government is likely to appoint Shaukat Tareen as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance. According to the people privy to this development, Prime Minister Imran Khan is considering to appoint Tareen as advisor or SAPM on finance. Previously, Tareen held the portfolio of finance minister from 2009 to 2010 during the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government. According to the sources, Tareen, a banker and former finance minister, attends important meetings of PM Imran Khan’s finance and economic team.
On the other hand, top officials of the PTI regime have contacted Tareen, who said he “is ready to directly work with” the government but has asked for 15-20 days’ time to “deal with something he’s busy in”, the sources added.
One recommendation, according to the sources, is that Tareen could work with Hammad Azhar — who was given the portfolio of finance ministry a day earlier in addition to serving as the federal minister for industries and production — on technical and policy matters.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led federal government on March 29 removed Hafeez Shaikh as finance minister. Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar was given an additional portfolio of the finance ministry. TLTP
