Stage set for Dar: Miftah Ismail hands in written resignation

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday handed in a written resignation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as incoming finance minister Ishaq Dar is set to assume the position after taking oath as a senator.

Earlier, Miftah verbally tendered his resignation to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in London and pledged to formalise it on his return to Pakistan.

“It’s been an honour to serve twice as Finance Minister. Pakistan Paindabad,” he wrote on Twitter.

Economy has been falling, will be trying to change its direction: Ishaq Dar

Dar arrived in Pakistan on Monday with hopes of stabilising and strengthening the rupee. He told the media that he would like to pick up the economy where he left it during his 2017 tenure in the same job.

Dar will be taking the finance minister office for the fourth time, this time with the challenge of getting the economy out of one of its worst balance of payment crises that has seen foreign reserves falling to a month of imports.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked me to accept the responsibilities of finance minister,” Dar said in a statement broadcast on state television on Monday evening. “By the grace of God, I will try my best to get Pakistan out of this economic rut.”

“God is sending me back to the same office,” he said, referring to the finance ministry he quit after he flew to London in 2017 for medical check-ups amid pending corruption cases, which he says were politically motivated.

His arrest warrants have been suspended by an anti-graft court until October 7, making his return to Pakistan possible.

The IMF board last month approved the seventh and eighth reviews of a bailout programme, allowing for a release of over $1.1 billion.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani rupee appreciated for the third successive session to close at Rs233.91 against the US dollar, bolstered by Dar’s arrival to the country.

Dar has favoured a strong currency in his previous tenures as finance minister — from 1998 to 1999, then in 2008 and again from 2013 to 2017.