KARACHI, July 22: Tariq Iqbal Khan assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing Director, National Investment Trust (NIT) on Tuesday.

He returned from 87 days of an overdue leave.

The Net Asset Value (NAV) of NIT unit saw a sharp drop from Rs64 to Rs41 during the absence of Mr. Khan, which to a larger degree was of course attributable to the stock market slump of 34 per cent in the three months from mid-April to the fag end of July.

“The return of the veteran fund manager brings good tidings, particularly as it coincides with the finance minister’s announcement of launch of Rs20bn equity market stabilisation fund on Tuesday and assigning NIT with the task of managing the fund,” said an analyst.