During the 2013 Pakistani general election, Ismail served as a member of the election strategy team and the manifesto committee of Pakistan Muslim League (N).[7] In October 2013, Ismail became a member of the Board of Directors of Pakistan International Airlines. In November 2013, he joined the Board of Directors of Sui Southern Gas Company.[6] Both of these positions he retained until 4 January 2014, when he was appointed as the head of Federal Board of Investment and was added as a junior member of then Prime Minister Sharif's cabinet.[8][6] Under his leadership the Board of Investment underwent massive restructuring including winding up of its regional offices.[9][10] During his tenure at the Board of Investment, the government of Pakistan formulated a new automobile sector policy that has attracted a lot of new investment in the automobile sector.[citation needed]
Ismail has served as adjunct faculty at the Institute of Business Administration and also as chairman of board at Karachi American School.[5]
In December 2017, Miftah was appointed as a finance adviser to then-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.[2][11] In April 2018, Ismail took oath as Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs in Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's cabinet, where he served until 31 May 2018.[12]
In 2022, Ismail was reappointed to as finance minister but resigned in September of the same year, paving the way for the return of Ishaq Dar Rehan Sheikh. [13]
In June 2023, he was removed by PML(N) as the general secretary of the party, allegedly due to his criticism of Dar's economic policies and dislike by then Chief Organizer of the PML(N), Maryam Nawaz.[14] Later, in the same month, he resigned from all senior positions of the PML(N) and party committees.[15]
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