ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) with the induction of renowned economists to ensure the availability of the best possible professional advice to the government on economic policies.
According to a notification issued by the Finance Division, the premier has constituted the Economic Advisory Council vide PMO’s U.O letter No. 20(8)/DS (EA-11)/2024 dated 17th May, 2024 with immediate effect till further orders.
EAC includes Jahangir Tareen, Saqib Shirazi, Shahzad Saleem, Musadik Zulqarnain, Dr Ijaz Nabi, Asif Peer, Zaid Bashir and Salman Ahmed.Â
The EAC will be chaired by the prime minister, who will convene its meetings with any required frequency.
According to sources, the EAC is mainly constituted to ensure that the best possible professional advice is available to the government to inform, optimise and synergise the formulation and implementation of its economic and financial policies.
The council is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening the government’s capacity to design and introduce sound and effective policies for rapid and continued social and economic advancement, human resource development, improvement of business processes, and strengthening of data services, said sources.
The council will also facilitate capacity building of the government in conducting policy analysis and will assist the government in reaching out to the international network of recognised economists to invite them to contribute to Pakistan’s development, they said.
It is pertinent to mention that this development has come as Pakistan engages in negotiations with the IMF for a new bailout, following a period of slight economic stabilization after completing the previous IMF program.
