Govt to enforce new companies law soon

Waiting for private sector input to make changes to the draft

KARACHI: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday the government could issue an ordinance to turn the Companies Bill 2016 into law in a matter of days after experts get back with proposals for amendments to the draft.

“I urge the private sector to come up with their suggestions in the next two to three days so that we can issue an ordinance to swiftly implement the Companies Bill 2016 instead of passing it through parliament that may take three to four months,” he said while speaking at a seminar on “The Draft of Companies Bill 2016”.



The seminar was attended by a large number of corporate leaders.

Dar voiced hope that the new law would improve corporate governance in Pakistan. “It’s a historic day for Pakistan,” he said, adding the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) team had completed a task that had dragged on for over 15 years.

He said the SECP team and private-sector experts worked very hard for drafting the Companies Bill 2016. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he remarked.



He also spoke about improvement in macroeconomic indicators, saying Pakistan needed to capitalise on the improving indicators by continuously focusing on higher economic growth.

“I am a firm believer in Pakistan’s economy and I am sure that the country can achieve much higher economic growth from where it now stands,” he said while highlighting the government’s economic performance over the past three years. Speaking about energy shortages, he declared that the government would be able to further cut down load-shedding by at least 25% in the next few months because major energy projects would start producing electricity by mid-2017.

Commenting on the prospects of improving tax collection, Dar said recent regulations for the real estate sector would massively increase tax revenues. “Tax collection from the real estate sector will rise from Rs9 billion to Rs100 billion,” he added.



Earlier, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) President Hafiz Mohammad Yousaf said the new companies’ bill would help increase tax collection and called the government’s recent regulations for the real estate sector an unpopular, but a very bold move.

SECP Chairman Muhammad Zafarul Haq Hijazi was of the view that the Companies Bill 2016 would strengthen regulations and improve corporate governance in Pakistan.

“I am sure the Companies Bill 2016 will significantly improve Pakistan’s global ranking in the ease of doing business over the next one year,” State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Deputy Governor Saeed Ahmad commented.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2016.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.