Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has authorized talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a fresh bailout deal after being sworn in to begin negotiations to complete the standby agreement and a new three-year bailout deal. A deal can be requested.
The IMF team is likely to be called to Islamabad for talks after the formation of the federal cabinet.
Among the various possible names for the finance ministry in the federal cabinet is the name of renowned banker Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is currently the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Habib Bank Limited (HBL).
The Reuters news agency has said with reference to sources that Muhammad Aurangzeb is likely to be appointed as the Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for Finance, but the final decision in this regard is yet to be made.
Reuters contacted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s party Muslim League-N and HBL spokespersons for comment, but they did not respond.
Who is Muhammad Aurangzeb?
Muhammad Aurangzeb is a trusted and experienced banker, having vast experience of three decades in banks in Pakistan and abroad.
Muhammad Aurangzeb is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) since April 2018.
His name has been among the highest paid CEOs of Pakistan for many years.
Muhammad Aurangzeb earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and later a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
According to the website of Habib Bank Limited, Muhammad Aurangzeb started his career with Citibank, after which he moved to Citibank New York.
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He later joined ABN Amro Bank, the third largest bank in the Netherlands, in a senior leadership position, where his work led him to the position of Country Manager for ABN Amro Bank Pakistan.
Mohammad Aurangzeb also held regional and global positions at ABN AMRO Bank Amsterdam and RBS Singapore.
He was also the CEO of JP Morgan Bank’s Asia Pacific, Global Corporate Bank in 2011.
Muhammad Aurangzeb has extensive experience in working with global markets.
Former banker and analyst Rashid Masood Alam, while commenting on the possible appointment of Mohammad Aurangzeb to a key post in the Finance Ministry, said that Mohammad Aurangzeb was a senior banker who was well versed in financial matters and did his work diligently. But they will face many challenges.
Speaking to Independent Urdu, Rashid Masood Alam said: ‘It will be a big challenge for him to work in the current situation of the country. There will be some major challenges for them, including negotiating with the IMF, balancing interest rates, controlling the day-to-day rising dollar rate after the caretaker government and appreciating the rupee, among others. Whereas in Pakistan at present electricity and gas rates are the highest and tax collection is also a big challenge.
According to Rashid Masood: ‘All these challenges require a long time to be met and Muhammad Aurangzeb can solve these problems if he is allowed to work. Like Shabar Zaidi was a capable person but he was not allowed to work.
On the other hand, economic analyst Shahzad Dhedi posted one of his posts on LinkedIn topic I welcomed the possible involvement of Muhammad Aurangzeb in the Ministry of Finance in relation to Pakistan’s economic development, especially the negotiations with the IMF.
According to Shahzad Dhedi: ‘The negotiations with the IMF under the leadership of Muhammad Aurangzeb will have many benefits for Pakistan, while the recommendations of the IMF will be rejected by him because of his innovative and technology-based solutions to economic problems. Implementation can be facilitated in a manner that will promote long-term sustainability and inclusive growth.’
Recommendations are sought for reforming the economic system and reducing government expenditure
Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has called for comprehensive recommendations for the overall reform of the economic system and a major reduction in government expenditure and has directed the immediate start of the process of complete digitization and automation of the National Bureau of Tax Revenue (FBR). Which he will supervise himself.
According to the statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday night, Shahbaz Sharif has directed that the world’s best model should be adopted for the digitization of FBR and in this context, the possibilities of obtaining the best services immediately should be evaluated so that the FBR system There should be transparency, increase in tax collections, elimination of tax evasion, corruption, smuggling and ease for people and business community through automated system.
He said that the best performing officers and tax paying heroes should be recognized and the black sheep should be punished.
Chairman FBR Malik Amjad Zubair Tawana in a briefing on Tuesday discussed measures to increase tax collections, refund payments to exporters, widen the tax net, tax evasion, institutional corruption, anti-smuggling, automation and quality service delivery. Informed by
Distrusting the FBR’s briefing, the Prime Minister directed that the digitization and automation process of the FBR should be made immediately on the basis of modern lines and the best models in the world, and in this regard, the services of international experts should be hired. be done ‘This is a matter of life and death for Pakistan.’
He added that ‘we have to accept the challenge and adopt a way to get rid of the life of debt.’
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2024-06-08 12:57:00