Economic Advisory Council (Pakistan)

Economic Advisory Council is a non-constitutional and independent body formed to give economic advice to the Government of Pakistan, specifically the Prime Minister.

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Organization

In August 2018, the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan reconstituted the council with the following members formed by the Prime Minister on Ministry of Finance recommendations for the Finance division under its Implementations and Economic Reforms Unit:[1][2][3][4][5]

Organization of the Economic Advisory Council[6][7][8][9]
Chair Imran Khan (Prime Minister)
Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan (Secretary of the Economic Advisory Council/Finance Division)
Official Members Abdul Hafeez Shaikh (Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue)
Hammad Azhar (Federal Minister for Economic Affairs)
Asad Umar (Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives)
(Secretary of the Finance Division and Economic Advisory Council)
Tariq Bajwa (Ex-Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP))
Dr. Ishrat Hussain (Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms)
Abdul Razak Dawood (Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission)
Private Sector Members Dr. Farrukh Iqbal (Dean & Director, Institute of Business Administration (IBA))
Dr. Ashfaque Hasan Khan (Principal and Dean, School of Social Sciences & Humanities, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST))
Dr. Ijaz Nabi (Professor of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences)
Dr. Asad Zaman (Vice Chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE))
Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri (Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI))
Syed Salim Raza - former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan
Dr Naved Hamid - Professor of Economics at the Lahore School of Economics (LSE)
Syed Salim Raza - former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan
Sakib Sherani - Economist and Journalist, founder of Macro Economic Insights (Pvt) Ltd

Among the members several retained their positions in Council from previous government, three members of the council belongs to non-economics background, and seven are ex or current office holder members including Asad Umar, on whose recommendations Council is formed.[10]

Council was also criticised for the lack of female representation.[11][12]

Resigned members

Inclusion of renowned economist Atif Mian resulted in a controversy when former Deputy Speaker of Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza's social media team tweeted a racial and religious tweet against Mian, who belongs to Ahmadiyya faith.[13] However, she later apologized after receiving severe backlash.[14][15] Previously Khan, himself was under backlash for naming Mian as his cabinet's Finance Minister, but he withdraw Mian's name saying he did not knew that he belonged to Ahmadiyya community.[16] Initially, PTI has supported its decision on Mian's inclusion in Council.[17][18] However after days of biased social media criticism from extremist religious groups, senator Faisal Javed Khan announced on 7 September 2018 in a tweet that, "Atif Mian was asked to step down from the Advisory Council and he has agreed. A replacement would be announced later."[19][20][21]

On 7 September 2018, Dr Khwaja resigned from the EAC protesting the government’s decision to withdraw the nomination of Dr Mian.[22] On 8 September 2018, Dr Rasul became the second EAC member who resigned in protest over Dr Mian's removal.[23][24]

References
  1. "PM Imran Khan constitutes Economic Advisory Council - Daily Times". Daily Times. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  2. Khan, Mubarak Zeb (September 2, 2018). "PM-led economic council formed to advise govt". Dawn News. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  3. "The Men Of EAC". The Nation. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  4. "PM Imran forms 18-member Economic Advisory Council". Dunya News. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  5. "Prime Minister Imran Khan ropes in foreign experts to rebuild Pakistan's debt-ridden economy - Firstpost". Press Trust of India. Firstpost. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  6. "PM Khan sets up 18-member Economic Advisory Council". The News International. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  7. "Imran Khan ropes in foreign experts to rebuild Pakistan's economy". Khaleej Times. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  8. Haider, Mehtab (September 2, 2018). "PM constitutes Economic Advisory Council". The News International. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  9. "Imran Khan ropes in foreign experts to rebuild Pakistan's debt-ridden economy - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  10. Rana, Shahbaz (September 1, 2018). "Several Dar team members retained in reconstituted Economic Advisory Council". The Express Tribune. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  11. Nayeem, Bushra (September 2, 2018). "List of female Pakistani economists who could have been on the economic advisory council". Daily Pakistan Global. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. "Pakistanis slam govt over all-male Economic Advisory Council". The Indian Express. September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  13. "Twitterati slam PPP's Shehla Raza for dragging religion into politics". Pakistan Today. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  14. Qureshi, Zubair (September 3, 2018). "Shehla Raz apologises over 'hate tweet', sacks social media team". GulfNews. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  15. "Shehla Raza's bigotry exposed with her tweet against minority member of Economic Advisory Council". Daily Pakistan Global. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  16. "Imran Khan backs off statement that he will make Ahmadi economist his Finance Minister". Rabwah Times. October 7, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  17. "Fawad Chaudhry defends Atif R Mian's appointment as economic advisor". Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  18. "Fawad Ch shuns criticism on Atif Mian's appointment". The Nation. September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  19. "Atif Mian to step down from Economic Advisory Council after 'unanimous decision'". The Express Tribune. September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  20. Chaudhry, Fahad (September 7, 2018). "Govt asks economist Atif Mian to step down from Economic Advisory Council". Dawn News. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  21. "Atif Mian asked to step down from Economic Advisory Council". September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  22. Hussain, Danish (September 7, 2018). "Another economist resigns from EAC in protest against Atif Mian's removal". Express Tribune.
  23. Hussain, Danish (September 8, 2018). "Imran Rasul resigns from EAC in solidarity with Atif Mian". Express Tribune.
  24. "More embarrassment for govt as second economist resigns from EAC over Atif Mian's exclusion". Dawn. September 8, 2018.
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