Islamabad: A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was held under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla to consider the Money Bill aimed at further amending the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through the Income Tax (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025. The Committee also received briefings on the PayPak payment system and the IMF Technical Assistance Report on Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment. The meeting was attended by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, Senator Shahzaib Durrani, Senator Muhammad Abdul Qadir, and Senator Dilawar Khan. Senator Kamran Murtaza participated as the mover of the agenda item, while Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro attended as a special invitee. The Standing Committee examined the proposed amendments and passed the Income Tax (Third Amendment) Bill, 2025 with necessary modifications. The Committee also discussed Starred Question No. 24 raised by Senator Kamran Murtaza and accepted the submission of the Auditor General of Pakistan that the error identified in the relevant document was a typographical mistake. Members were briefed on the scope, performance, and challenges affecting the PayPak payment system, including the reasons behind its low market share. The Chairman directed the State Bank of Pakistan to provide a detailed update on the implementation status and issues concerning PayPak. He assured full Committee support and instructed the PayPak administration to launch SMS-based promotional campaigns and submit its operational challenges in writing. The Committee also received a detailed briefing on the IMF’s recently published Technical Assistance Report on Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment. ONLINE
Members strongly condemned corruption and recommended strict measures to eliminate it from the country. The Committee expressed displeasure over the absence of the Federal Minister for Finance, the Secretary Finance, and the Governor State Bank of Pakistan, directing that their presence be ensured in the next meeting to continue deliberations and formulate a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy.
The Committee unanimously decided that, since the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has been established, the matter should be referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, being the relevant forum, and will report this recommendation back to the House.
