Hammad Azhar replaces Hafeez Sheikh as new finance minister

• Cabinet division issues notification for Hammad Azhar's appointment as finance minister Tuesday.
  
• Azhar has been given an additional portfolio of this ministry. He will stay on as the federal minister for industries and production.
  
• PM Imran Khan has reportedly conveyed to former finance minister Hafeez Sheikh to step down from his role.
  

A notification for the the appointment of Hammad Azhar as the new finance minister was issued by the Cabinet division Tuesday, Geo News reported.

Azhar has been given an additional portfolio of this ministry. He will still also be the federal minister for industries and production.

A day earlier, senior PTI leader Senator Shibli Faraz, in a statement, informed about the change and said that Azhar would carry forward the vision of the prime minister.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan had conveyed to former finance minister Hafeez Sheikh to step down from his role.

Reacting to his appointment, Azhar said: "I am honoured to be entrusted with the additional charge of Finance by the Prime Minister."

"Pakistan's economy has made significant gains towards stabilisation since 2018. We shall continue to consolidate these gains and strengthen the growth momentum," the minister wrote on Twitter.

The development comes after PPP candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated Hafeez Shaikh for the Islamabad general seat in Senate elections. Following the defeat, the PM, on March 6, had directed Shaikh to carry on his duties as the Minister for Finance.