
Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said the appointment was effective from today.
He did not elaborate on the functions of the special panel.
Nonetheless, he said the rationalisation of GLCs, government-linked investment companies and public companies limited by guarantees would come under the finance ministry.
Asri was appointed Treasury secretary-general in April 2020 but was placed on leave in December 2022, shortly after Anwar Ibrahim was appointed prime minister and subsequently took on the post of finance minister.
In February 2023, Asri – who was still on leave – was replaced as Treasury secretary-general by former TalentCorp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican.
Last week, Anwar said a secretariat had been formed to study the rationalisation of federal statutory bodies to address issues of overlapping functions and uncontrolled spending.