ISLAMABAD
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to review and formulate economic policies in a more holistic manner.
According to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Thursday, the 21-member Economic Advisory Council will be chaired by the prime minister.
The members of council include Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Miftah Ismail, Saleem Mandviwalla, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha, Mussadiq Malik, Tariq Pasha, Mian Muhammad Mansha, Mohammad Ali Tabba, Arif Habib, Dr Asim Hussain, Atif Bajwa, Faisal Farid, Muhammad Aurangzeb (President and CEO at HBL), Waqar Ahmad Malik (MD/CEO Fauji Foundation), Salman Ahmed, Shahzad Salim, Rahman Naseem, Musadaq Zulqarnain, and Dr ljaz Nabi.
The EAC will be convened on a weekly basis on the issues of national economic importance. According to notification, the council would review the overall economic condition of the country and propose possible corrective measures considering available resources of the country.
It would analyse the effectiveness of subsidies, protection and other financial support by the government to the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) and other vital sectors of the economy in context of overall cost and benefit analysis of such subsidies/protection. Specific sub-committees will be formed for focused work with the timelines and defined scope.
The council would also review the existing market imperfections in the various important sectors of the economy in order to promote competition by correcting the market distortions.
It would advise the government ministries, organisations, bodies and various project implementing agencies in formulating evidence-based policies. Furthermore, the EAC would also help in finding the technical expertise and human resource that may be required to carry out the requisite financial and economic analysis/studies.
