Economist Atif Mian agrees to step down from EAC on govt's request

Princeton University economist Atif R. Mian agreed to step down from his position in the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government requested him to give up his position from the council.

PTI Senator Faisal Javed took to Twitter and announced that Mian had agreed to resign from the council. Javed wrote, "Atif Mian was asked to step down from the Advisory Council and he has agreed. A replacement would be announced later."

Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhary also took to Twitter and wrote that it was not appropriate if the appointment of one member caused differences. He also said that PTI wanted to take Islamic scholars (ulema) and all social classes together and move forward.

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— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 7, 2018

On September 1, PM Khan had constituted an 18-member EAC which consisted of renowned economists.  7 members out of the 18 belong to government while 11 belong to the private sector.

From the private sector one of the the members included Mian who belonged from Princeton's Department of Member Economics and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy. This led to an uproar from some individuals and groups who objected his appointment as he belonged to the Ahmadi community.

Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhary, however, defended the appointment and said that Pakistan belonged to minorities as much as it belonged to the majority

From the government sector the members included, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar, Secretary of Finance Arif Ahmed Khan, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Tariq Bajwa, Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razaq Dawood,  Adviser on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.