ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday approved the recomposition of 18-member Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to review and formulate economic policies.

As per the notification of the Finance Division, the EAC would be headed by the Prime Minister while its members included Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Miftah Ismail, Maryum Aurangzeb, Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha, Musaddiq Masood Malik, Dr S Akbar Khan, Dr Muhammad Nadeem Javed, Samina Khalil, Dr Masood Ahmad, Dr Ijaz Nabi, Dr Hafeez Pasha, Dr Ali Cheema, Dr Syed Muhammad Hassan Shah, Dr Akbar Hussain Shah, Dr S Manzoor Ahmad, Khurram Hussain and Sakib Sherani.

The Terms of Reference of the EAC included that it is being established to review and formulate economic policies in a more holistic manner and devise on short-term macroeconomic stabilization as well as structural reforms for stable and sustained economic progress. The meeting of the EAC would be convened on weekly basis on the issues of national importance.

As per the scope of work, the EAC will review the overall economic condition of the country and propose possible corrective measures considering the available resources of the country, analyze the effectiveness of subsidies, protection and other financial support by the government to the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and other vital sectors of the economy in the context of overall cost and benefit analysis of such subsidies/protection.

PM Shehbaz approves re-composition of Economic Advisory Council

The EAC will also review the existing market imperfections in various important sectors of the economy in order to promote competition by correcting the market distortions, to advise the Government Ministries, organizations, bodies and various project implementing agencies in formulating evidence-based policies and to help in finding the technical expertise and human resource that may be required to carry out the requisite financial and economic analysis/studies.

The EAC will initially meet once a week (virtually/in-person) and specific sub-committees will be formed for focused work with the timelines and defined scope, said the notification, adding that it may co-opt any other member as per requirement.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022