Miftah Ismail, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs, is heading a delegation to conduct road shows in three financial capitals of the world to gauge investor interest in the issuance of Eurobonds and Sukuk. The move has fueled speculations that he may have succeeded in convincing PML-N President Nawaz Sharif that he is the most appropriate replacement for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Sources in the finance ministry said that Secretary Finance Shahid Mehmood and Governor State Bank of Pakistan are accompanying Ismail to Dubai, London and New York for $2.3 billion Sukuk issue. A road show was scheduled in Dubai on Wednesday (November 22), followed by a two-day event in London on Thursday, November 23 and Friday, November 24 and in New York on 27th and 28th instant.
Sources in the ministry said the governor SBP may return to the country on Wednesday or Thursday because of his scheduled monetary policy meeting on Friday which he is required to chair. Dar has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Accountability Court and left the country on October 27, 2017. However, he has reportedly been non-functional since the Panama Papers case verdict on 28 July.