Shaukat Tarin took oath as the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue at a ceremony in Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Monday.
He was administered the oath as the Federal Minister by President Dr Arif Alvi. Federal and provincial ministers and other senior officials attended the swearing-in ceremony. Shaukat Tarin had taken oath as a senator last week after being elected as a member of the Upper House from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. He secured 87 votes from the total 122 votes. The seat was vacated by Ayub Afridi who had resigned as a senator to make way for Tarin.
Tarin was appointed as the finance minister in April this year during a cabinet reshuffle. However, the government later changed his portfolio to that of a finance adviser as he needed to be elected to parliament in order to continue as a minister for longer than six months.
The newly elected minister now faces some stern challenges that include getting the approval of the amended finance and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) autonomy bills from the parliament, a necessary step to pave the way for a $1 billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Rising inflation and swelling current account deficit also need urgent remedies. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) may also be reconstituted with Tarin coming back as the chairman. Tarin was replaced by Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan as the chairman after losing his ministerial position back in April.
