The government has appointed political scientist and journalist Dr Farrukh Saleem as its spokesperson on economy and energy issues, it emerged on Tuesday.

While making the announcement on Twitter, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said a notification will be issued regarding the appointment later.

An economist, financial analyst and TV personality, Saleem also writes columns for English-language daily The News.

The news of his appointment comes a day after the government announced its decision to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for balance-of-payments support and entering into a stabilisation programme.

Amidst reports that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants his cabinet members to take the parliament and masses into confidence over his government's economic plans, Dr Saleem's appointment appears to be a move aimed at addressing continuing uncertainty on economic policy and its impact on local markets.

The government's IMF announcement had come on Monday after the stock market suffered an over 1,300-point plunge, losing almost Rs270 billion of its capitalisation — the highest single-day loss in a decade.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had appointed Dr Saleem to formulate terms of reference for identifying causes of ever-increasing losses of the Pakistan International Airlines.