In November 2017, Abbasi took charge of the Ministry of Finance on an ad interim basis after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar went to the United Kingdom for a medical checkup in late October amid his arrest warrant in a corruption case for having wealth beyond his known sources of income, On 24 November, Ishaq Dar stepped down from the ministerial office after taking medical leave. In December 2017, it was reported that Abbasi would continue as Finance Minister until the 2018 general election, even though the ministry was suffering as Abbasi was unable to give proper attention to it. On 26 December, Abbasi appointed Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Afzal Khan as Minister of State for Finance while retaining the portfolio of Finance with himself. On 9 January 2018, Abbasi elevated his Special Assistant on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan as Federal Minister for Revenue and advised him to execute the tax agenda.