Pakistan's Finance Minister Asad Umar steps down

Pakistan's Finance Minister Asad Umar, who was involved in extensive discussions with the IMF to finalise a bailout package for the cash-strapped country, quit the Cabinet on Thursday after Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his desire to shift him to the energy ministry.

Umar, who recently returned from a trip to the US in which the details of Pakistan's next International Monetary Fund bailout were finalised, said he has obtained the prime minister's consent "to not take any cabinet position".

"As part of a cabinet reshuffle, prime minister desired that I take the energy minister portfolio instead of finance," Umar said. "However, I have obtained his consent to not take any cabinet position."