Miftah Ismail appointed PM’s adviser on finance

ISLAMABAD: The government has appointed Miftah Ismail as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, with the status of Federal Minister with immediate effect, a notification issued by the Cabinet Division said on Tuesday.

President Mamnoon Hussain made the appointment in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 96 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and on the advice of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, according to the notification.

Consequent upon his appointment as Adviser to the Prime Minister, Ismail shall cease to hold the office of the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Economic Affairs, the notification added.

In a statement, Miftah said: “I bow my head in humility to Allah (SWT) for the honour of being appointed Adviser to the Prime Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs. I am grateful to my leader Mian Nawaz Sharif for his kindness and to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for placing his trust in me. I am also thankful to many leaders in the party for continuing to mentor me over the years, including my first boss in politics Mian Shahbaz Sharif, and Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Professor Ahsan Iqbal and Sen Pervaiz Rasheed. It is a joy also to thank many other leaders, friends and colleagues in PML-N for their constant support over the years.

In line with Nawaz Sharif’s vision, the prime minister has instructed me to try to lower individual tax rates, widen the tax net, come up with a scheme to repay the refunds owed to our taxpayers, reform certain corporate taxes that are adversely affecting capital formation and also study the possibility of allowing Pakistanis to bring their undocumented wealth into the country’s economy, he added.

Born in Karachi, Ismail received his B.S. from Duquesne University in business studies in 1985, followed by a PhD in public finance and political economy from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1990. He worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as an economist based in Washington D.C. in early 1990s.