Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday removed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar from his post as chairman of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division.

The newly-elected prime minister will himself serve as the chairman of the ECC after Dar’s removal, the notification added. Dar will remain a member of the committee and will chair meetings of the ECC in case of Abbasi’s absence.

Five ministries – railways, power, communications, statistics, water resources, and privatization – have also been added to the ECC. Dar, a close confidante and relative of Nawaz Sharif, too will be facing corruption cases in an accountability court as per Supreme Court’s April 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.

The ECC has traditionally been chaired by the federal finance minister and the prime minister is not usually involved in its affairs. Its members include the ministers of 10 key federal ministries.

The ECC deliberates on economic matters of urgent importance and coordinates policies initiated by various divisions of the government. According to its charter, it ‘maintains vigilance on the monetary and credit situation and make[s] proposals for the regulation of credit in order to maximize production and exports and to prevent inflation’.

Published in Daily Times, August 12^th 2017.