PM bars top bureaucrats from ADB

The government has finalised a panel for the appointment of Pakistan’s new executive director at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), including two women officers, after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided not to allow the principal aspirants holding key domestic positions to take the lucrative foreign posting. Government sources said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has shortlisted the names of three officers from the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) for appointment as Pakistan’s executive director at the ADB, a major lender to the country. The principal candidate for the position is Ms Sarah Saeed, a grade-22 officer currently serving as Special Secretary in the Establishment Division. The other shortlisted candidate is Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, former secretary finance and the incumbent secretary of the Ministry of Health. If Sheikh is not sent to Manila, he may be posted as secretary petroleum, according to the sources.