Govt asks Atif Mian to step down from Economic Advisory Council
The pronouncement was made by PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan on Twitter.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The government on Friday has asked Princeton University economist Atif R. Mian to step down from the Economic Advisory Council (EAC).
The pronouncement was made by PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan on Twitter.
Atif Mian was asked to step down from the Advisory Council and he has agreed. A replacement would be announced later.
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) September 7, 2018
According to him, Atif has agreed over the demand following which a replacement will be announced later.
The development was also confirmed by Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhary afterwards. He maintained that the government has decided to withdraw the nomination of Atif as it wants to move forward alongside all Ulemas and social groups while avoiding conflict.
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 7, 2018
He went on to say that the ideal state according to Prime Minister Imran Khan is of Madina whereas the premier and his cabinet members love the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) dearly.
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 7, 2018
"Khatm-i-Nabuwwat is a part of our faith and the recent success achieved by the government over the matter of blasphemous sketches also expresses the same association," he wrote.
Atif Mian, an MIT-educated Pakistani-American economics professor at Princeton University, was recently named member of a new economic advisory council.
Government officials initially defended the decision, but within days caved to mounting pressure from the politicians and religious right.
First session of EAC
The first session of the EAC presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan was held yesterday. The participants pledged to introduce major changes to the federal budget 2018-19 to make it ‘realistic’.
The meeting decided to set up three working groups on debt, fiscal challenges and current account deficit. Moreover, the matter pertaining to collection of taxes and increase in exports was also debated during the session.
However; no discussion by EAC on approaching International Monetary Fund for a bailout was made.
PM Khan said since the socio-economic development and needs of lower and middle classes were totally neglected in the past, the economic progress of downtrodden and middle income classes was the central point of PTI government’s economic policies.
Giving the example of “Riasat-e-Madina”, he asserted it was for the first in human history when the state took over the responsibility of lower and downtrodden classes and that historic step not only helped the deprived and poor to stand on their feet, but they also emerged as a great power in the world.
The prime minister maintained that the country could progress only if the focus of the government policies would be to uplift the lower classes and provide them equal opportunities of development.
He stressed that the dream of progress of country and nation could not be realized until every individual of society had a stake in the economic system and development process.
Participants of the meeting also gave various suggestions to address the economic challenges faced by the country.
