The future of Pakistan’s six-week old coalition government was thrown in doubt on Monday night after Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and a key coalition leader, withdrew his ministers in protest at the government’s refusal to reinstate judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf last November.

Mr Sharif made the move as the Pakistani rupee slid back towards a record low against the dollar, amid worries about the stability of the government and its economic austerity programme.