The Federal Cabinet, in its meeting on Wednesday, October 4th, 2006, presided over by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, approved the Degreeawarding status for the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad. The Ordinance (No. XXXI of 2006) dated 8th November, 2006, to this effect has been signed by the President of Pakistan and it has been published in the  Gazette of Pakistan, Extraordinary, Part I. The Director of PIDE, Dr Nadeem Ul Haque, and Chairman of the PhD programme, Dr Musleh-ud Din along with PIDE staff, welcomed the decision by the Federal Cabinet. Expressing his views, Dr Haque expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the Federal Cabinet, and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for announcing this long-awaited decision. He also acknowledged the efforts and commitment of the PIDE PhD faculty. Currently, the eighth batch of Economics students is enrolled at PIDE and pursuing the PhD.