ISLAMABAD
\nFinance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Monday dismissed reports pertaining to granting complete autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), saying the government will still retain control over the central bank even after the passage of the SBP Amendment Act.
\nBriefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, which met with Senator Faizullah Kamoka in the chair, Tarin said that the government will propose names for the SBP board of directors and appoint the board members as well.
\nThe impression that it will curtail powers of the government is not correct, Tarin said during a heated standing committee session in which he traded barbs with the opposition leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Ahsan Iqbal.
\n\u201cThe IMF told us to stop borrowing money from the State Bank,\u201d he said, adding that the government has not borrowed from the SBP for the past two and a half years. \u201cHowever, the earlier loans by the SBP amount to Rs7,000 billion,\u201d the minister added.
\nThe finance minister further said that in March, Pakistan was given $500 million by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on strict conditions that were accepted by the govt.
\n\u201cBut the current legislation is very different with respect to those demands,\u201d he added.
\nAccording to Tarin, it had cost Pakistan $60 billion to artificially stop the devaluation of the rupee. At this, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal retorted that exports have not increased after the rupee went through a 40 per cent depreciation.
\nMeanwhile, briefing the committee, SBP Governor Reza Baqir also claimed that the government will retain full control of the SBP despite the amendments in the law pertaining to the central bank.
\nHe termed the news reports regarding the \u201cauction of the SBP to the IMF\u201d as fake news and said the \u201cdraft of the bill is not secret any more which says that the government will retain control\u201d of the SBP. Baqir said the impression that the IMF is getting control of the central bank is \u201cwrong\u201d.
\nHe added that he used to work for the IMF, but it was not a crime to work in a global financial institution. According to the SBP chief, he was a Pakistani national and didn\u2019t hold another nationality or even a residential permit. \u201cThe reports in media over these issues are completely baseless,\u201d he added.
\nOn January 2, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office expressed reservations over the SBP bill and sought deletion of certain parts. Sources said that the PM\u2019s Office had also raised several other objections over the SBP amendment Bill, 2021, which envisages complete autonomy for the central bank and places a complete restriction on the government\u2019s borrowing from the SBP.
\nThe premier\u2019s office had disagreed with giving complete autonomy to the SBP and sought the deletion of section 46 B (4) from the Bill.
\nOn Jan 8, the SBP issued two papers to offer clarity on the issue. It said the proposed law would neither compromise economic sovereignty nor would it become a \u201cstate within a state.
\nThe amendments, it had added, would help in boosting coordination between the finance minister and the SBP governor to better strike a balance between economic growth and inflation reading.
\nIts officials would remain answerable before parliament and that the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) could investigate alleged criminal matters.
\n\u201cHowever, indemnity is being proposed for actions taken in good faith, so that where due care and due process are followed, officials are not afraid to take actions. This is quite common in central bank laws and is considered an international best practice,\u201d the paper had added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Monday dismissed reports pertaining to granting complete autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), saying the government will still retain control over the central bank even after the passage of the SBP Amendment Act. Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, which met with Senator Faizullah Kamoka […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n