ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - In a surprise move, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has removed Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb as head of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).
The development comes a day after the government presented the budget. Under the new arrangement, the premier will head Ecnec.
This is the first time that a finance minister will not head the most important committee.
The newly formed eight-member forum will include Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal from the federal government. In the absence of the prime minister, Minister Dar will preside over Ecnec meetings.
Prime Minister Sharif has also appointed Dar as the head of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation. Finmin Aurangzeb leads two other cabinet committees: the Economic Coordination Committee and the Committee on State-Owned Enterprises.
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Ecnec’s provincial members include Punjab’s Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan, Adviser to KP Chief Minister Muzzamil Aslam, and Balochistan’s Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani.
Also, the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman, and secretaries of economic affairs, finance, and planning, along with the chairpersons of planning boards of Punjab and Sindh and the additional chief secretaries of KP and Balochistan, will attend all meetings by special invitation.
Federal and provincial government officers, as well as those from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, may also be called to the meetings when needed.