Ex-IMF economist Miftah Ismail has a tight time frame as Pak's FM

Ismail, who briefly held the post four years ago, brings with him a record of decisive policy action and a close relationship with PM Shehbaz Sharif but faces a daunting array of challenges

Pakistan's new prime minister has appointed 57-year-old economist and businessman Miftah Ismail as the finance minister who will be tasked with quickly arresting a downward economic spiral and getting International Monetary Fund (IMF) talks back on track.

Ismail, who briefly held the post four years ago, brings with him a record of decisive policy action and a close relationship with prime minister Shehbaz Sharif but faces a daunting array of challenges. The former IMF economist, with a PhD in Public Finance and Political Economy from the Wharton School of Business, held the job for a few months in 2018 when he joined a government near the end of its term.

As he returns to the post, central bank foreign reserves have fallen to $10.8 billion from $16.2 billion in just one month, according to the latest figures released on Thursday, providing import cover of only around 50 days, Ismail said. He will also prioritise securing a successful International Monetary Fund review to release a tranche of more than $900 million and unlock finances from other international lenders that require a clean bill of health from the Fund. Ismail has said he intends to restart talks soon to resume the 39-month, $6 billion bailout programme, which Pakistan entered in 2019, but negotiations will be tough with many targets off track. He has also said his foremost task will be to contain a burgeoning fiscal deficit that could hit 6.4 trillion Pakistani rupees ($35 billion), or about 10% of gross domestic product, versus a target of about 4 trillion rupees, by the end of June.

Just prior to his appointment, Ismail had said that tough decisions need to be made. "We cannot let our fiscal and external financial position deteriorate further and have our development partners walk out. Tough choices need to be made," he said in a tweet on Saturday.

Ismail comes from a wealthy family that runs a confectionery business, Ismail Industrial, is expected to have  good working ties with Sharif.

 

Bilawal not among new ministers

New Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday appointed a multi-party coalition cabinet made up of what had previously been political rivals in opposition who united to oust Imran Khan. The Cabinet includes five women. 

Among the key appointments was finance minister Miftah Ismail, 57. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, a former provincial finance minister, will work with Ismail as a state minister for finance. Ismail's first officially announced meeting was with the Chinese Embassy's charge d'affaires, the finance ministry said in a statement.

But, in what would come as a surprise to many, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the front-runner for the coveted post of the foreign minister, did not take the oath on Tuesday, giving rise to speculation about his reluctance to join the government.  Bilawal, 33, is chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The role went to Hina Rabbani Khar, also a member PPP . Khar held the portfolio briefly in 2011.

The Cabinet includes 31 ministers and three ministers of the state. Sharif’s PML-N got 13 ministries and Bhutto-Zardari's PPP got nine. Four ministries were over to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and two to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan. Other coalition partners including Balochistan Awami Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and Jamhori Watan Party  got one ministry each.