Ministers of Pakistan
Pakistan’s federal cabinet — the ministers, the portfolios, and the men and women running the government in 2026.
Last updated: 11 October 2026
The Essentials
Ministers of Pakistan at a Glance
The government in four facts.
2024–2026
The Federal Cabinet
Who runs Pakistan.
The federal cabinet — chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (PML-N), in office since the February 2024 elections — combines PML-N ministers with coalition allies (notably the PPP). The cabinet takes the big decisions; the Cabinet Division at the PM Secretariat runs the machinery. Each minister heads a ministry politically, paired with a federal secretary administratively. Portfolios that matter most: Finance (the economy), Interior (security), Foreign Affairs (diplomacy), Defence, Planning, Energy, and Commerce.
Wazir-e-Khazana
The Finance Minister
Pakistan’s most-watched portfolio.
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb — former HBL president, a banker turned finance minister — holds the Finance and Revenue portfolio. In October 2026 he reported: record $21.4bn forex reserves, twin deficits down from 12.5% to 2.6% of GDP, a $3bn Eurobond (twice oversubscribed), three sovereign rating upgrades since April 2025, and 4% GDP growth projected. He’s currently leading Pakistan’s delegation to the World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings in Bangkok (Oct 12–18, 2026). The Finance Minister’s budget speech each June is the year’s biggest economic event; his notifications (pay, pensions) are the country’s most-searched official documents.
Aurangzeb’s pitch is technocratic: six economic priorities — lasting stability, responsible growth, structural reforms, trade over aid, finance for SMEs and agriculture, and positioning for the digital economy. The OICCI’s complaint list shows the gap between stabilisation and investment: Rs103bn in pending tax refunds, withholding tax complexity, and net FDI down 34% to $1.7bn in FY26. The minister’s answer: predictability, consultation, and reforms that outlast any one budget.
Directory
Key Portfolios
The portfolios that matter.
| Portfolio | Minister (2026) | Block |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Revenue | Muhammad Aurangzeb | Q |
| Interior | Mohsin Naqvi | R |
| Foreign Affairs | Ishaq Dar (DPM) | — |
| Defence | Khawaja Asif | — |
| Planning | Ahsan Iqbal | P |
| Commerce | Jam Kamal | A |
Portfolios can reshuffle — check the Cabinet Division’s current list. Cabinet guide →
The Process
How Ministers Are Chosen
From election to oath.
After general elections, the Prime Minister — elected by the National Assembly — advises the President on cabinet appointments. Ministers are usually MNAs or Senators (technocrats can be appointed and then elected to the Senate within months, as Aurangzeb was). Coalition arithmetic decides the split: allies get portfolios proportional to their seats. An interim (caretaker) cabinet runs the country between assembly dissolution and elections — constitutionally barred from major policy decisions.
1947
The First Cabinets
Where it all began.
Pakistan’s first cabinet (August 1947): Liaquat Ali Khan as Prime Minister — who also held the Defence portfolio as the country’s first defence minister. The first Finance Minister: Ghulam Muhammad (later Governor-General). The Chief Executive title is a different era’s story — Pervez Musharraf ruled as “Chief Executive of Pakistan” from the 1999 coup until becoming President in 2001.
زبان
Wazir-e-Khazana
The Urdu title.
Wazir-e-Khazana (وزیر خزانہ) — literally “Minister of the Treasury” — is the Urdu title for the Finance Minister. You’ll hear it on every Urdu news channel at budget time. (A “chief minister of finance” isn’t a real title — the searchers mean the federal finance minister.)
June Ritual
The Budget: The Finance Minister’s Big Day
Pakistan’s economic set-piece.
Every June, the Finance Minister presents the federal budget in the National Assembly — the briefcase, the speech, the all-night talk shows. The budget sets tax policy, development spending (PSDP), defence allocations and the deficit target; the opposition gets its reply days later. Under IMF programmes, the budget is also where prior actions land — tax measures the Fund demanded. Aurangzeb’s budgets have been “stability budgets”: broaden the tax base, protect the vulnerable, no boom-and-bust.
Decisions
Inside a Cabinet Meeting
How the government decides.
Cabinet meetings — usually weekly, chaired by the PM — run on summaries: ministries submit concise proposals; the Cabinet approves, amends or defers. Big-ticket items (privatisation, IMF terms, emergency powers) need cabinet sign-off before parliament or the President act. The press release after each meeting is Pakistan’s most-watched government document — markets, media and ministries all parse it.
The Provinces
Provincial Cabinets
Four more governments.
Each province has its own Chief Minister and cabinet: Maryam Nawaz (Punjab, PML-N), Sohail Afridi (KP, PTI), Murad Ali Shah (Sindh, PPP), and Balochistan’s CM. The 18th Amendment devolved vast powers — health, education, agriculture are provincial subjects — so provincial ministers often matter more to daily life than federal ones. The current flashpoint: the federal government mulling emergency or governor’s rule in KP — a direct federal-provincial collision.
The Juniors
Ministers of State & Advisers
Beyond the cabinet.
Below full ministers sit Ministers of State — junior ministers with specific briefs — plus Advisers and Special Assistants to the PM (SAPMs), who wield influence without cabinet rank. The distinction matters: only federal ministers attend cabinet meetings as of right; advisers brief but don’t vote. Pakistan’s cabinets have grown fond of large advisory entourages — a perennial opposition talking point about the cost of governance.
Representation
Women in the Cabinet
Slowly growing.
Pakistan’s cabinets have historically been male-dominated, but women’s representation has grown — from trailblazers like Hina Rabbani Khar (foreign minister, 2011) to current portfolios. Reserved seats for women in the National Assembly feed the pipeline. The 2024 cabinet includes women ministers and ministers of state — progress, though parity remains distant.
Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
What readers ask most — answered.
Who is the finance minister of Pakistan?
Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb — Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue since March 2024; a former bank CEO.
Who are the current ministers of Pakistan?
PM Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet (since March 2024): Aurangzeb (Finance), Naqvi (Interior), Dar (Foreign Affairs/DPM), Khawaja Asif (Defence), Ahsan Iqbal (Planning), Jam Kamal (Commerce).
What is Wazir-e-Khazana?
The Urdu title (وزیر خزانہ) for Pakistan’s Finance Minister — currently Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Who was Pakistan’s first finance minister?
Ghulam Muhammad — finance minister in the first cabinet (1947), later Governor-General.
Who was Pakistan’s first defence minister?
Liaquat Ali Khan — the first Prime Minister also held the Defence portfolio in 1947.
Who was the Chief Executive of Pakistan?
Pervez Musharraf — ruled as “Chief Executive” from the October 1999 coup until becoming President in June 2001.
How many ministers are in Pakistan’s cabinet?
The size shifts with reshuffles and coalition deals — typically 25–35 federal ministers plus ministers of state, advisers and special assistants. Check the Cabinet Division’s current list.
Who is the interior minister of Pakistan?
Mohsin Naqvi — Interior Minister in the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet, handling internal security.
What is an interim cabinet in Pakistan?
A caretaker cabinet that runs the country between assembly dissolution and elections — limited to day-to-day governance, no major policy.
Pakistan’s Government, Explained
12 guides — ministers, portfolios, cabinets and the finance ministry.
Feature Pakistan’s Pakistan Guides track Pakistan’s leadership with verified information.