ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet convened Wednesday has been postponed besides other engagements subsequent to Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin reportedly testing positive for coronavirus.

An official of the Finance Ministry said that the meeting has been postponed because the finance minister was tested positive and it remains unclear whether the meeting would now be held through Zoom.

We have not been issued any instruction in this regard, he added.

The official further stated that the finance minister was not feeling well for the last few days.

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On arrival from Karachi, Tarin reportedly went straight to the AFIC for test but no one has officially confirmed whether he was tested corona positive or not.

The finance minister remained very busy during the last few weeks in holding meetings with the various ministries as well as with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in preparing the finance supplementary bill to withdraw sales tax exemptions, a condition set by the IMF along with the SBP amendment Bill, for taking the Fund staff team the pending sixth review to the board meeting.

The finance minister appeared in the Senate Standing Committee of Finance to brief the meeting about the urgency and importance of the approval of the finance supplementary bill was for the country’s economy.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022