Kamran Afzal appointed new secretary finance

• Notification of appointment has been issued by Establishment Division
• Afzal was previously serving as special secretary at Finance Ministry
• Outgoing Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch appointed Executive Director WB

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday appointed Kamran Afzal as the finance secretary after relieving Naveed Kamran Baloch from the important position tasked to steer the economy out of the crisis mode.

According to The News, Afzal will have to face the challenge of reviving the stalled IMF programme in a manner that it does not burden the economy and voiceless consumers of the energy sector.

A notification of the appointment of Kamran Afzal as Secretary Finance was issued by the Establishment Division.

Afzal was selected over some strong contenders such as Zafar Hassan, Ali Raza Bhutta and Mohsin Chandna. Secretary Cabinet Division Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera was not among the contenders because he had already touched the peak of his career.

Without moving any summary, the government made this important appointment. There is one Secretaries Committee and this committee was also not consulted this time, the report added.

While, the outgoing Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch has been appointed as Executive Director in the World Bank (WB) and he is going to join his new position based in Washington, DC, next week but formally he will join after the New Year holidays. Naveed Kamran Baloch had retired from civil service after reaching the age of superannuation.

Read more: PM Imran Khan appoints Dr Waqar Masood as special assistant on revenue

Profile

Kamran Afzal has served as Additional Secretary Finance on the external front. Currently, he was serving as Special Secretary, Ministry of Finance, for the last few months.

Kamran Afzal has a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Melbourne. He had also done a Masters of Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne.

He held key positions in different ministries/divisions as he had served as Additional Secretary Finance external wing in BS-21 and devised structuring and implementation of the reform program in coordination with development partners like WB, IMF, IFAD, ADB, AIIB, USAID, UNDP; liaising with SBP on matters relating to foreign exchange reserves, raising finances for the balance of payment position and budgetary support.

He had served as additional finance secretary investment and additional secretary PM Office during his earlier appointments.