ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to hand over the chairmanship of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, sources in the government said.

The prime minister, however, will continue to head the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE), they said, adding the prime minister took the decision at a meeting on Saturday. Confirming the development, a senior member of the cabinet told Dawn that the prime minster had regretted he would be unable to chair the ECC meetings due to his hectic schedule and engagements.

On Friday, the prime minister had constituted seven committees and, according to the official notification, he himself was to head the ECC and CCoE. In the past, the finance minister used to preside over the meetings of the ECC.

The cabinet member said the PM would oversee the functions of the two committees and guide the members whenever his consent or command was required. He said the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, had also headed the CCoE during the previous PML-N government.

The ECC will now comprise the ministers for finance, economic affairs, commerce, power, petroleum and planning & development, and a notification in this regard is expected to be issued soon, said the sources.