The government on Saturday decided to change its economic managers by replacing Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan with Economic Affairs Division Secretary Wajid Rana.
A source told Pakistan Today on Saturday that the finance secretary had been changed after the ministry’s failure to improve the economic situation, particularly after the end of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s bailout package. The government had brought a change in its economic team in December 2010 with the hope that these managers would improve the economy without the support of the IMF, which had offered another programme without which it had said the situation in Pakistan would not improve. The Finance Ministry had been presenting a rosy picture which was contradicted by the IMF’s reports on Pakistan’s economy. Another source said various names were being considered for appointment as Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman after the retirement of Salman Siddique. The source said on top was the name of Ali Arshad but a final decision was yet to be made. Khan was appointed finance secretary for the third time by transferring Siddique to the FBR as its chairman.
