The decision to replace embattled Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been made at the highest levels of government, a senior government official said.
According to the official, the only option the government now has is to replace Dar.
“The decision was taken after getting a green signal from former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,” he said.
The source added that it had not yet been decided whether an adviser on finance would be appointed or a full-fledged minister, who must be a member of parliament.
What is most likely, he said, is that a non-elected adviser would be appointed and the decision would be made public in the next couple of days.
The source said that a list of likely advisers has already been drafted.
Two of the people being considered for the job are Shaukat Tarin, who served as finance minister in the PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) government, and Dr Ishrat Husain, who was governor of the State Bank of Pakistan during Pervez Musharraf’s regime.
The list contains other names, which the source declined to reveal.
Speculation rife in Islamabad and in the media suggests that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Miftah Ismail is also on the list, as is Ahsan Iqbal, currently holding the ministerial portfolios of interior and planning.
A final decision on who would replace Dar has not been made.
Former minister Tarin said that he had not been contacted by anyone in the government about this.
He also ruled out the idea of becoming a finance minister or a financial adviser.
“I am very clear on this: I do not wish to be finance minister or an adviser,” he said, but added that he could consider helping out in some other capacity, “such as on some council or committee, but even that depends on who else is going to be a member”.
“If a council is stuffed with useless people, there is no sense in serving on it,” Tarin said.
The source painted a picture of disarray in the bureaucracy.
No bureaucrat in the finance ministry has the courage to move any file, resulting in delays in major decisions, he said.
“There is complete chaos within the tax machinery as well,” he said.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Tariq Pasha has started seeking approval from Dar even on minor issues like the issuance of press statements.
Pasha has worked closely with Minister Dar and is considered a close associate.
He is also likely to be replaced as the new adviser would consider his own team, the source added.
Dar was indicted on September 27 in a corruption reference but continues to serve as finance minister amid strong criticism from opposition parties.
On November 14 an accountability court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the minister due to his repeated absence from court.
The court is hearing the corruption reference against the finance minister, who is accused of accumulating assets worth an estimated Rs831.7mn, which is disproportionate with his known sources of income.


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