Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan cabinet tasked with ending economic crisis

Pakistan’s economy is dependent on International Monetary Fund loans to service its repayments – a programme that comes with a number of conditions

Pakistan cabinet tasked with ending economic crisis

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the key members of his cabinet, tasking them with leading the country out of a crippling economic crisis fuelled by debt, spiralling inflation and a feeble rupee.

Pakistan's 19 new ministers took their oath of office Monday, after an election marred by allegations of vote rigging.


Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb - chief of a leading Pakistan bank, with a background in international finance - was one of the only technocrats to be appointed among a group of Sharif loyalists.

Aurangzeb has stepped down as chief executive officer of Habib Bank Ltd. Earlier he was the CEO with JP Morgan’s Global Corporate Bank in Singapore.

In a statement from Habib Bank, Aurangzeb said, "I am excited about the opportunity to serve our country in this new capacity and contribute to the economic growth and development of Pakistan.”

Habib Bank called Aurangzeb's stepping down from his position a "remarkable act of national service".

Second-time-PM Sharif heads a fragile alliance backed by his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party's long-term rivals, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Pakistan's economy is dependent on International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans to service its repayments - a programme that comes with a number of conditions.

Sharif told his cabinet on Monday they would need to perform "deep surgery" on the nation's finances, adding that: "The foremost challenge our nation confronts is inflation."

PPP refused to assume any ministerial positions, instead taking only the president's role for party leader Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The two family dynasties combined to keep lawmakers loyal to jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan from power after they won the most seats in the February general election.

The Sharif family have ruled Pakistan for lengthy stints, with Shehbaz's eldest brother Nawaz Sharif also serving as prime minister on three separate occasions.

PM Sharif is expected to make further appointments in the coming months.

Inflation, debt

Seventy-three-year-old Ishaq Dar, finance minister under the last Sharif government and who publicly rebuffed the IMF, was given the foreign ministry.

Dar is an ethnic Kashmiri and chartered accountant by training and is a confidant of the party head and former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif.

"It is all grey-haired men who have been brought back," Gallup Pakistan analyst Bilal Gilani told AFP.

"It's a disappointment that the government, which is facing huge opposition from a party that talks about young people and change has - even to the extent of cabinet composition - not bothered to bring in any new faces, let alone new ideas."

Inflation is soaring at 23 per cent, with water, electricity and gas price increases at 36 per cent, as the predominantly Muslim country marked the start of Ramadan on Tuesday.

In the coming weeks, Pakistan must negotiate the latest tranche of a $3 billion loan with the IMF.

"We have to save until the last moment to shop for Ramadan, and could hardly buy anything," said Zainab Bibi, a domestic worker in Karachi. "Let's pray that this Ramadan passes with ease for us."

The new interior minister, Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, was previously Punjab chief minister, and oversaw a major crackdown against Khan's party.

Of the first 19 cabinet members announced, all but one were men.

Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the niece of the defence minister, was awarded the junior title of state minister.

Only 12 women were directly elected into parliament out of 266 seats in last month's election. A further 60 seats are reserved for unelected women parliamentarians. (Agencies)

More For You

uk weather

Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled

Getty Images

Cooler conditions bring relief as UK heatwave ends

Key points

  • UK's second heatwave of 2025 ends with cooler temperatures setting in.
  • Tuesday recorded the year’s highest temperature at 34.7°C in London.
  • No return to heatwave conditions forecast for early July.
  • Showers expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with drier weather ahead.

UK heatwave fades as cooler weather returns

Following a stretch of record-breaking heat, the UK has now entered a cooler phase, with no heatwave conditions forecast for the first half of July. This change comes after Tuesday became the hottest day of the year so far, with 34.7°C recorded in London’s St James’s Park.

However, the high temperatures that marked the start of July have now given way to more comfortable conditions. In many parts of the country, temperatures have dropped by more than 10°C, bringing relief from the extreme heat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

Matt Hancock arrives ahead of his latest appearance before the Covid-19 Inquiry on July 02, 2025 in London, England.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Families slam Hancock's 'insulting' care home defence at Covid inquiry

BEREAVED families have condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock as "insulting" and "full of excuses" after he defended the controversial policy of moving untested hospital patients into care homes during the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Speaking at the Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday (2), Hancock described the decision to discharge patients into care homes as "the least-worst decision" available at the time, despite the devastating death toll that followed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Getty

Starmer has said the NHS must 'reform or die' and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Starmer outlines 10-year NHS reform strategy

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will on Thursday launch a 10-year strategy aimed at fixing the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was in crisis. The plan seeks to ease the pressure on overstretched hospitals and shift care closer to people’s homes.

The NHS, which is publicly funded and state-run, has faced difficulties recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to experience annual winter pressures, repeated waves of industrial action, and a long backlog for elective treatments.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer-Reeves-Getty

Starmer and Reeves during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy on June 23, 2025 in Nuneaton. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Reeves ‘going nowhere’, says Starmer after tears in parliament

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Wednesday said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain in her role for “a very long time to come”, after she appeared visibly upset in parliament as questions were raised about her future.

Reeves was seen with tears rolling down her face during Prime Minister’s Questions, after Starmer did not confirm whether she would remain chancellor until the next general election, expected in 2029.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh begins trial over slain student activist

Chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus , prays at Abu Sayeed’s grave

Bangladesh begins trial over slain student activist

BANGLADESH opened on Monday (30) the murder trial of student protester Abu Sayeed, whose killing last year escalated demonstrations nationwide that ultimately ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sayeed died aged 23 in the northern city of Rangpur, the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests.

Keep ReadingShow less