Ishaq Dar a close aide of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was missing when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of economic team soon after taking oath of his office for a second term. Certainly a huge news from several angles, if Dar isn’t the economic czar in the PML-N government led by a Sharif, although he isn’t the elder. It was an important meeting given the current economic mess Pakistan is in and Shehbaz had listed debt burden as the main challenge for the new government in his speech to the House after winning the confidence of 201 members. A statement issued by the PM Office read that the prime minister directed the economic team to begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on an Extended Funding Facility (EFF) and expedite the privatisation of lossmaking state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – a process that has never gained momentum given the reluctance on the part of elected government due to the sensitive nature of the issue.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)