Akhtar, a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), has been appointed as the interim finance minister for the second time. Earlier, she was the finance minister during the 2018 caretaker setup and left behind an economic roadmap for the new government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Unlike the constitutional limit of three months, it seems the caretaker setup will continue for a longer period and the establishment will look for options to extend the term. The caretaker setup had suggested to the PTI government to take these “reform measures within three weeks”, if it wanted to avoid recourse to the IMF. The Ministry of Finance stated that Dr Shamshad Akhtar on Thursday officially took over the responsibility of caretaker finance minister.

Source: The Nation August 18, 2023 18:37 UTC