Senator Shibli Faraz and Shaukat Tarin were sworn in as federal ministers by President Arif Alvi in a small ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday.
Shibli Faraz will take up the mantle of minister for science and technology, whereas Shaukat Tarin will henceforth be minister for finance.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 16 appointed Shaukat Tarin as the finance minister in yet another cabinet reshuffle during the third year of the PTI-led government. Tarin had also served as the finance minister in former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani’s cabinet from 2009 to 2010.
Tarin replaced PTI’s recently appointed finance minister Hammad Azhar, who has now been given the portfolio of energy. Before Hammad’s short stint, PPP’s ex-financial czar Abdul Hafeez Shaikh served as the finance minister before being unceremoniously sacked last month – that too when the prime minister had claimed the economy was on course to recovery.
In other major changes, the prime minister has swapped the portfolios of science and information ministries between Fawad Chaudhry and Shibli Faraz. Fawad has been appointed the government’s spokesperson for the second time.
