‘Political’ interference in NAB ‘will be ended’

Interim govt assures IMF there will be transparency in anti-graft bodies

ISLAMABAD:

The caretaker federal government has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that political interference in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or any other anti-graft institution would be brought to an end.

The copies of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) and Letter of Intent agreed upon by both Pakistan and IMF showed that the Islamabad had assured the global lender of comprehensive reforms to prevent corruption, bribery and money laundering.

Political interference in anti-corruption institutions including NAB will be eliminated and they will be made transparent.

The anti-corruption framework report will be published with the approval of the cabinet.

According to the documents, people will be given access to the information of assets disclosed by public representatives and cabinet members.

They added that the NAB chairman would be appointed on merit and the jurisdiction of the anti-graft body would be determined for investigation.

The documents read that the anti-corruption task force would publish its report in March.

The task force will include experts with international experience and members of the civil society.

The government has assured the IMF in writing that asset declaration and the banking system would be brought at par with the best prevailing international methods.

It further told the global lender that a report would be published under the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

Read: NAB to drop unnecessary cases

The MEFP submitted by Pakistan to the IMF read that the real GDP was expected to rebound in FY24, though more slowly than anticipated at the time of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) request. Growth ws projected at 2%, with strong post-flood recovery in the agricultural sector compensating for still subdued activity in the industrial and service sectors, with signs of weak aggregate demand.

Over the medium-term, prudent policies and the implementation of long overdue structural reforms will allow growth to rise gradually to 5%, supported by stronger investment and exports.

It read that the headline CPI inflation was projected to remain above 20% (yoy) through FY24Q3, as the necessary recent increases in gas and electricity tariffs contributed to persistently high energy inflation.

It added that food and core inflation eased only gradually.

“Maintaining a real policy rate in clear positive territory as inflation eases and reacting to any signs of new demand pressures or increasing inflation expectations will help re-anchor inflation expectations and guide down core inflation from FY24H2 onwards, provided there is no resumption in administrative import compression.

Headline inflation is projected to decline significantly through FY25-26, falling within the 5–7% target range within FY26, supported by fiscal consolidation and the normalization of global commodity prices.