Islamabad: Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif picked a former banker from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as finance minister to help bolster the cash-strapped economy after a contentious election. Muhammad Aurangzeb, 59, was appointed to the position, the Finance Ministry confirmed in a post on X. He earlier stepped down as chief executive officer of Pakistan’s biggest bank by deposits - Habib Bank Ltd.
The new finance minister’s most pressing challenge would be to secure at least $6 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund to tide over the economy, which has been battered by surging inflation and slowing growth. Shehbaz Sharif has said Pakistan needs to secure a new loan as a priority.
The nation also needs to unlock the final $1.1 billion tranche from an IMF program that ends next month. Some $1 billion of Pakistan’s dollar-denominated bonds mature in April as well.
Aurangzeb was chosen over other possible candidates, including longtime Sharif ally Ishaq Dar and ex-central bank governor Shamshad Akhtar. His appointment suggests Sharif wants technocrats to help fix the country, which narrowly avoided a sovereign default last year.
“We have to carry out a surgical operation as antibiotics will not work at all," Sharif said after the cabinet appointments. “There will be a deep surgery so that the roots of this country can deepen. Whenever there is a will, there is a way and it is never too late."