The federal government on Thursday appointed Syed M Shabbar Zaidi as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on an honorary basis for a period of two years, said an official press release.
According to the official statement, the appointment will be with immediate effect.
The appointment, first announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, was notified on Thursday by the Establishment Division. The notification, however, did not say if Zaidi would also be given the additional charge of revenue secretary – a portfolio traditionally and jointly held by the FBR chairman.
A summary accompanying the notification noted that Dr Ahmad Mujtaba Memon’s named was initially discussed by the selection committee for the FBR chairmanship, but he was eventually deemed “too junior” by the committee.
Zaidi’s appointment comes days after the removal of Jehanzeb Khan from the position as head of the tax collection body.
Zaidi is a senior partner at AF Ferguson and Co, a leading accountancy and advisory company in Pakistan and a Price Waterhouse Coopers member firm. He has previously served as provincial finance minister in Sindh caretaker cabinet in 2013.
Zaidi has also served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and as chairman of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) in the past, and has also authored several books, including ‘Panama Leaks: A Blessing in Disguise – Offshore Assets of Pakistani Citizens’, ‘A Journey for Clarity’ and ‘Pakistan: Not a Failed State’.
