ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has kickstarted the new tenure by asking the economic team to initiate talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a long-term bail out package. To further make things interesting, he announced to buttress the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and to either shut down or privatise the loss-making governmental entities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz chaired the economic meeting himself with one notable absence – that of the former finance minister Ishaq Dar. Dar is a frontrunner among the candidates vying for the chair at finance ministry.
The core economic team comprised members from the State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Finance and Planning ministries. There are some murmurs that the Shehbaz-led cabinet might see a new finance minister, after a short but disastrous tenure of Dar.