NA committee meeting: Dar refuses briefing on farmer package, Rs40 billion mini-budget

Members call the move unprecedented, sparking criticism from all parties

ISLAMABAD: In a rare move, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has turned down a request for a briefing on the farmer’s package and Rs40 billion mini-budget to a parliamentary committee, inviting criticism from members of all political parties including his own PML-N.

Dar did not agree to put the farmers’ package and Rs40 billion mini-budget on agenda of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue meeting, disclosed Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood. Masood was speaking at the meeting of the NA standing committee, headed by Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh of PML-N. He did not give reasons for the refusal.

The secretary’s disclosure further boiled tempers of the committee members who were already fuming as officials of the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) kept them waiting for about half an hour.



Against the scheduled meeting time of 2pm, SBP Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood and FBR Chairman Nisar Mohammad Khan turned up at 2:29pm.

Masood said they could not come on time due to another official engagement.

The committee members were also irked by Dar’s refusal to give a briefing on two major issues affecting a majority of the country’s population.

The government had announced the assistance package for growers to offset the impact of declining commodity prices on their incomes. It also introduced Rs40 billion worth of indirect taxes to meet a condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It is unprecedented that a minister has objected to an agenda item,” said PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik. PML-N’s Daniyal Aziz also showed his surprise over the decision.

Under Rule 200(4) of the Rules of Business, the committee does not need the finance minister’s permission to discuss any matter and it will take up these issues in the next meeting, said Dr Nafisa Shah of PPP. The lack of respect for parliament by the government speaks volumes about its priorities, she added.

Other business

The government was also ill-prepared to discuss the legislative business. It requested the committee to defer discussion on the Foreign Exchange Regulations Amendment Bill, seeking more time to review the bill that it has already submitted to parliament.

The bill is aimed at giving the central bank powers to impose penalties on violations of provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act. The team that reviewed the bill has raised certain questions, which require time to be addressed, said Wathra.

The standing committee also deferred voting on amendments to the Banks Nationalization Act of 1974 after the central bank opposed the changes in the law. The government had moved the bill to give effect to changes that were introduced in 2007 through the Finance Bill.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had struck down the amendments, directing the government to bring changes through a separate bill.

Under the proposed changes, the federal government wanted to give legal cover to the third extension given to former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president Syed Ali Raza in 2007. The SBP governor opposed the changes.

Under the original Act, the NBP president cannot be appointed for more than two terms. The government wants to have powers to appoint bank presidents for more than two terms.

“I have talked to the finance minister, requesting him that the proposed changes to the law should be withdrawn and he has agreed,” said the governor.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2016.

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