21-member EAC formed for macroeconomic stabilisation

ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif comprising 21 members to seek advice on short-term macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reforms for achieving sustained growth. The EAC will comprise federal ministers, economists, former bureaucrats, businessmen and bankers.

According to the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for EAC, it is being established to review and formulate economic policies more holistically. The EAC will advise on short-term macro-economic stabilization as well as structural reforms for stable and sustained economic progress.

The EAC will be convened on weekly basis on the issues of national economic importance. The official notification issued for the establishment of the EAC states that the prime minister is pleased to constitute the Economic Advisory Council (EAC). The EAC shall be chaired by the Prime Minister. The composition of the Economic Advisory Council shall constitute Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Miftah Ismail, Saleem Mandviwalla, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha, Mussadiq Malik, Tariq Pasha, Mian Muhammad Mansha, Mohammad Ali Tabba, Arif Habib, Dr Asim Hussain, Atif Bajwa, Faisal Farid, Aurangzeb, HBL, Waqar Ahmad Malik, MD/CEO Fauji Foundation, Salman Ahmed, Shahzad Salim, Rahman Naseem, Musadaq Zulqarnain and Dr Ijaz Nabi.

The scope of work and structure of the Economic Advisory Council is mandated to review the overall economic condition of the country and propose possible corrective measures considering available resources, analyze the effectiveness of subsidies, protection, and other financial support by the government to the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) and other vital sectors of the economy in the context of overall cost and benefit analysis of such subsidies/protection, review the existing market imperfections in the various important sectors of the economy to promote competition by correcting the market distortions, to advise the government ministries, organizations, bodies and various project implementing agencies in formulating evidence-based policies, to help in finding the technical expertise and human resource that may be required to carry out the requisite financial and economic analysis/studies.

The Economic Advisory Council will initially meet once a week (virtually/in person). The specific sub-committees will be formed for focused work with the timelines and defined scope. The EAC may co-opt any other member as per requirement.

Many independent analysts termed the constitution of such forums as routine and a public relations exercise keeping in view the past experiences where it did not contribute much to bringing any good input to policy formulations. In the past several committees were constituted but failed to achieve the desired results. Now it is hoped that this EAC will contribute to policy formulation for the best of the country instead of protecting the vested interests of specific individuals.