Govt changes secretary finance ahead of budget 2023-24

• Govt appoints Imdadullah Bosal, a BS-22 officer, new secretary.
• Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh asked to report to Establishment Division.
• Sheikh had requested govt to grant him leaves citing three reasons.

ISLAMABAD: Ahead of the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, the federal government transferred Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, directing him to report to the Establishment Division, The News reported Friday.

Minutes after the transfer, the Establishment Division notified Imdadullah Bosal, a BS-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) as secretary Finance Division.

Sources told the publication that Sheikh, a BS-22 officer of the PAS, had requested the government in writing for granting him leave but the government was reluctant ahead of the upcoming budget for 2023-24, which is expected to be unveiled on June 9.

He had requested the government to relieve him mainly because of three reasons:

• To attend the graduation ceremony of one of his children abroad. 
• Back pain due to prolonged sittings during office hours.
• Lucrative assignment with an FCDO-funded project but it is not confirmed yet.

Sheikh offered his services at a very critical time when the country was struggling to fulfill the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) conditions in order to restore the Fund-sponsored programme.

He had served during the tenure of both the Pakistan Tekreek-e-Insaf and and Pakistan Democratic Movement-led regimes in the last few years and made utmost efforts to keep the IMF programme afloat at a time when the lender was very tough.

He had sternly opposed the government’s move when the half-baked cross-fuel subsidy plan was announced without taking the IMF into confidence. 

However, his efforts remained futile as the IMF did not so far revive the stalled programme despite the all-out efforts of the Islamabad authorities in the last several months.