The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue has opposed the State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operation) Bill 2022. The Committee met under the chairmanship of Saleem Mandviwalla to discuss various issues pertaining to the ministry and its attached departments. Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha told the Committee that the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Bill was introduced in March 2021 and presented and approved in the National Assembly of Pakistan, which should be read again. She highlighted that the Central Monitoring Unit (CMU) had been established, which also maintained an electronic database of the financial and operational performance of the state-owned enterprises.

Senator Saadia Abbasi said that those policies had to be endorsed, which were in the national interest and all the entities were loss-making. She said that if the SOEs were not working and making a profit then the government should close them. The Committee opposed the SOEs Bill 2022 through majority votes. The Committee also considered the matter regarding the regularization of outsourced staff of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). The president of NBP told the committee that around 2069 employees were hired from outsourcing, 567 employees were given the bank contract, while work for 419 employees was in process.

The Committee also considered the issue raised by Senator Dr Afnan Ullah Khan regarding illegal harassment of citizens and filers by the Federal Board of Revenue officer on the pretext of an increase in assets which created unrest among the citizens and filers. Chairman FBR, Asim Ahmad told the Committee that the Board conducted an inquiry against those employees who were involved in that case adding that no one could issue a notice on a back date. The committee’s chairman gave one month to FBR to come with full clarification. With respect to the devaluation of Pakistani rupee, Senator Shaukat Tarin asked for the number of inflows of US dollars.

Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha said we are all going through a difficult time and accepting potential inflows from different financial institutions and friendly countries which included $1.5million from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and $500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). She said that Saudi Arabia had already rolled over a $3 million loan and negotiation was in process with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She highlighted that the destruction came due to recent floods, which was a natural disaster. This is the responsibility of the international community to help Pakistan come out of the crisis. The United Nations, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank were working jointly to determine the damages needs assessment, she added.

She said that Pakistan was a resilient country but we should not give up. The government had plans, and strategies to cope with the current situation. She said there was no need to worry about the current situation as the difficult time would pass soon and the country would come out of the crisis. While talking about the opening of the Letters of Credit (LCs), the SPB official said the bank had not received a single complaint of delayed payment in LCs or stopped payment. He said that 8,000 requests of LCs had been approved. The meeting was also attended by Senators, Mohsin Aziz, Shaukat Fayaz Ahmed Train, Ms Saadia Abbasi, Faisal Saleem Rehman, Shibli Faraz, Kamil Ali Agha, Dilawar khan, Afnan Ullah Khan and Chairman FBR, Secretary Finance, SBP, Presidents of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), United Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Meezan Bank, Habib Metropolitan, Standard Chartered Bank and Allied Bank.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk