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| AsiaViews, Edition: 48/VI/March2010 |
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| Nasim Beg meets PM, tipped to be finance adviser |
ISLAMABAD: Prominent investment banker Nasim Beg met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday amid reports that he is likely to be inducted as the prime minister’s adviser on finance in a few days and subsequently become finance minister after getting elected as a senator from Sindh.
Mr Beg, who is currently working with Arif Habib Group as the chief executive of the Arif Habib Investments Limited, confirmed having met the prime minister but declined to say if he would be joining the government to lead its economic team.
“Yes I had a meeting with the prime minister today in which we discussed the national economy,” Mr Beg told Dawn after the meeting.
Asked what advice he had given to the prime minister for improving the national economy, he said they had an exchange of views, adding that it would not be appropriate for him to speak about his discussions with the prime minister.
When asked if he was joining the government Mr Beg said nothing of the sort had been discussed at the meeting.
“You will have to wait for a few days,” he said when asked if he would accept the government’s offer to join the finance ministry.
Informed sources said Mr Beg was likely to join first as an adviser and then after getting elected as a senator from Sindh to the seat vacated by Shaukat Tarin, he could become fully-fledged finance minister.
A chartered accountant by profession, Nasim Beg is a close relative of Anwar Majeed, a business friend of President Asif Ali Zardari.
He got his early education at the Cadet College in Hassan Abdal and became a chartered accountant in 1970.
Mr Beg is the founder chief executive of Arif Habib Investment Management Limited that manages Rs16 billion ($190 million) worth of stocks and bonds.
Mr Beg has held senior positions at various institutions. As deputy chief executive of the National Investment Trust, he is said to be a key member of the team that successfully turned around NIT during its difficult period.
In 2003, he was part of the task force set up by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to develop the Voluntary Pension Scheme. |
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| Dawn, 04 March 2010 |
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