Govt Removes Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh as Finance Secretary Ahead of Budget

The federal government has removed Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh as the Secretary Finance ahead of the upcoming budget. Sources told ProPakistani that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has approved the long leave request of Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh. Sources said that Dar and the Finance Secretary were not on the same page regarding the stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) program and the Supreme Court’s instructions to release Rs. 21 billion for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) due to which the Secretary Finance preferred to go on leave instead of working under the minister. It is pertinent to note that the Ministry of Finance under the supervision of Sheikh was involved in negotiations with the IMF for the last four months but the IMF to date is yet to sign the staff-level agreement with Pakistan. According to a notification, the government has posted Imdad Ullah Bosal as the new Finance Secretary. He was posted as Special Secretary Finance Division on May 3, 2023. He also remained the Additional Secretary Finance during Imran Khan’s tenure as the prime minister but he is considered very close to current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Bosal holds a master’s degree in Political Economy of Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He also holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Oxford. In a separate development, the federal government has also appointed Managing Directors of Pak-Kuwait, Pak Libya, Pak-Oman, and Pak Brunei Investment Companies. According to notifications issued by the Finance Division, Saad ur Rehman has been appointed as Managing Director Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, Tariq Mahmood as MD Pak Libya, S.M Amir Shamim as MD Pak Brunei and Nauman Insari as MD Pak Oman Investment Company.