Mohammad Aurangzeb to head finance team, claim sources close to PM

ISLAMABAD: Top banker and President HBL Mohammad Aurangzeb will be head of the finance team in the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet, two different sources close to the premier claimed on Tuesday.

Another source confided to The News that Mohammad Aurangzeb has already met PMLN Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif. The banker also attended on Monday the first meeting on finance that the Prime Minister chaired soon after taking oath of office. Ishaq Dar was not part of the meeting.

According to a source, close to Mian Nawaz Sharif, former finance minister Ishaq Dar may not be keen for the job because of health issues and some other unexplained reasons. He will be given some other important responsibility, the source added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to meet Mian Nawaz Sharif soon to discuss and finalise his cabinet members. Formal announcement of the cabinet will be made after the premier takes Nawaz Sharif into confidence.

Mohammad Aurangzeb joined HBL on April 30, 2018 as the president and the chief executive officer (CEO). Before that, Aurangzeb was the CEO of JP Morgan’s Global Corporate Bank, based in Asia. He has a rich international banking experience of over 30 years and also served in senior management positions at ABN AMRO and RBS based in Amsterdam and Singapore. Aurangzeb is the only Pakistani to be invited to the exclusive membership of the Global CEO Council, organised by the WSJ/DowJones group and has been elected as the chairman of the Pakistan Banks’ Association and director of the Pakistan Business Council. He received his BS and MBA degrees from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania). According to a source, Mohammad Aurangzeb is a dual national and this aspect is currently being discussed and settled for his induction in the cabinet as federal minister.

The biggest challenge for the upcoming Minister for Finance would be clinching a staggering deal with the IMF under three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The PM in its maiden meeting on Monday directed the relevant authorities to kick-start negotiations with the IMF for striking a fresh deal with the IMF.

At the moment the ongoing $3 billion Stand-by Agreement is scheduled to be completed on April 12, 2024. It is yet to be seen whether Islamabad prefers to complete the ongoing SBA program by securing its last tranche of $1.1 billion or starts parleys for a new three year EFF program.

The newly sworn-in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already granted his go-ahead to the finance ministry to invite the IMF team and kickstart parleys for the completion of the ongoing Standby Arrangement and requesting a new three-year deal with the Fund simultaneously.

Soon after the formation of the federal cabinet, the IMF team will be invited to hold crucial parleys here in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, sources close to Islamabad/Pindi say an even more senior choice for the finance minister was Sultan Ali Allana, Chairman of HBL, due to his vast experience in finance and economy. However due to international work commitments in relation with the Aga Khan he could not commit. Allana has been credited in the past with conceptualising Roshan Digital and behind-the-scene project management required to get Pakistan out of FATF Grey list.