Lo and behold! The fourth Finance Minister to assume office under the current Government has also, left the building. But Hafeez Sheikhs exit from the Finance Ministry is due to very different reasons than the ouster of his recent predecessors.
Sheikh is a strong contender for the post of Prime Minister in the caretaker setup that is set to be put in place within a few weeks.
If he does manage to snatch the coveted caretaker position; Sheikhs appointment would be reminiscent of the appointment of Moeen Qureshi as caretaker Prime Minister, back in 1993. At that time, the prominent economist emerged as PM on the recommendation of then Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz.
In those days, Pakistans dependence on the International Monetary Fund had newly developed and among Qureshis strengths, was his perceived ability to represent the countrys case in front of the Fund.
Since that time, Pakistans reliance on the IMF has become more habitual. The practice of installing technocrats in governments; caretaker or not, has also gained popularity.
Shaukat Aziz, Hafiz Pasha, Shahid Javed Burki, Salman Shah, Nadeem-ul-Haque, Ishrat Husain and others have all attempted to instill institutional reforms to improve the economy and the States balances.
Going back to Moeen Qureshi; it is pertinent to note that he brought on Syed Baber Ali and Hafiz Pasha to manage affairs of Finance and Commerce. That team undertook tough economic and political reforms supported by the IMF standby arrangement. The objective was to stop hemorrhaging of public sector enterprises (PSEs), boosting tax and other government revenues and curbing rent seeking through policy reform.
Twenty years on, the picture has not changed much. The focus of the upcoming caretaker government must once again be on restructuring the energy sector and bringing down losses in the public sector.
The Opposition, led by Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), has so far rejected the idea of installing Sheikh as the caretaker PM. However that statement has only been made by Chaudhry Nisar, a known hawk who himself has repeatedly stressed that the name of the caretaker PM will only be deliberated upon after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Even if the PML-N does not accept Hafeez Sheikh for the post, the eventual nominee is likely to be someone of a similar background; one who understands the workings of Government and the reforms that are so direly needed. The context to this assertion is provided by the inevitability that the country must head back to the IMF, and soon.
The Fund would require the implementation of some tough economic choices which political parties have been loathing so far, for fear of a beating at the ballot box. However, if a caretaker government can initiate the needed changes; the incoming elected government would find it easier to ratify those, once the right tone is set.
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