Govt Reconstitutes Economic Advisory Council

The federal government has reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) by bringing an economist onboard. According to the details, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the re-composition of 18 members of the EAC. The EAC will be chaired by the premier and 18 new members, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Miftah Ismail, Mariyum Aurangzeb, Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha, Musaddiq Masood Mali, Dr. S Akbar Khan, Dr. Nadeem Javed, Samina Khalil, Dr. Masood Ahmad, Dr. Ijaz Nabi, Dr. Hafeez Pasha, Dr. Ali Cheema, Dr. Syed Muhammad Hassan Shah, Dr. Akbar Hussain Shah, Dr. S Manzoor Ahmad, Khurram Hussain, and Sakib Sherani. The EAC is being established to review and formulate economic policies in a more holistic manner. It will provide advice on short-term macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms for stable and sustained economic progress. Meetings of the EAC for issues of national economic importance will be convened on a weekly basis. It will review Pakistan’s overall economic condition and will propose possible corrective measures considering the country’s available resources. It will also analyze the effectiveness of the 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 the overall cost and benefit analysis of such subsidies/protection. The EAC will review the existing market imperfections in various important sectors of the economy to promote competition by correcting the market distortions; to advise the ministries, organizations, bodies, and various project implementing agencies in formulating evidence-based policies; and help find the technical expertise and human resource that may be required to carry out the requisite financial and economic analysis/studies. The EAC will initially meet once a week (virtually/in-person) and specific sub-committees will be formed for focused work with the timelines and defined scope.