In a rather expected development, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi on Tuesday resigned from the post, a private media outlet claimed.

A prominent chartered accountant and former caretaker provincial minister for Sindh, Zaidi was named by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in May last year as his choice for the new FBR chief.

Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had last week hinted that the federal government may change the FBR chief if his health did not improve any time soon.

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Shaikh, in an interview with a private news channel, had shared that the government may decide to change the FBR chairman if he did not recover quickly as the government also planned to introduce a mini-budget.

“The FBR chairman is ill and we hope he recovers quickly,” Shaikh had said. His statement had come weeks after Zaidi had sought an indefinite period of leave from his official duties on grounds of poor health.

Earlier, Zaidi had gone on sick leave from January 6 to January 19. This had led to rumours that there was a rift in the government’s economic team. However, those rumours were rejected by the FBR.

Meanwhile, another media outlet has rubbished the claims regarding Zaidi’s resignation.

“I am not resigning from my post as chairman FBR. I have just not been performing my duties due to my health,” Zaidi told Geo News.