Dr Hafeez Shaikh worked on key economy positions

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh as Adviser on Finance.

Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is currently staying at Dubai. Talking to The News on Thursday night, he said that he was currently in Dubai and could talk only after getting confirmation about his appointment.

Dr Hafeez Shaikh had served on key position in the country, including finance minister during the tenure of the PPP-led regime from 2010 to 2013. He had also served as minister for privatisation during the Musharraf regime as well as provincial finance minister Sindh. He is a distinguished economist who remained affiliated with the World Bank during his career.

The technocrat finance minister in political set-up was always considered as an alien thought within the political ranks of the party and mostly the parliamentarians identified them as those who were ready to toe the line of multilateral creditors such as the IMF, World Bank and Asian

Development Bank. But there are some strong points in favour of technocrats as they were always vying to ensure financial discipline instead of doling out national exchequer to please constituency based politics.

Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is an economist of international repute with over 30 years of experience in economic policymaking, management and implementation. His work experience includes degree from Harvard University and working with the World Bank, where he was country head for Saudi Arabia and as a senior official advised 21 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. He had served as minister for finance, planning and development, Sindh, member of the Senate, federal minister for investment and privatisation, and general partner, international investment fund. He was a highly regarded member of the Senate and was chairman of the Senate’s Committee on World Trade Organisation. Dr Shaikh’s international experience includes assignments in Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Romania, Czech Republic, Iran, Kuwait, Argentina, Bangladesh, Jordan, Qatar, Malta, Botswana, Tanzania, Ghana and Libya. Dr Shaikh has a PhD in economics and has authored many publications, including a book on Argentina.