Is Dr Shamshad Akhtar Violating the SOE Act 2023?

Serving as the finance minister (FM) of Pakistan since 17 August 2023, Dr Shamshad Akhtar is known for heading boards of companies, in violation of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Act 2023.

Dr Akhtar who is the chairperson of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG), Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), is violating the SOE law and its policy.

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Section 11 of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Act states, “a holder of a political office whether or not in a legislative role… shall not be appointed or continue to hold office as an independent director”. According to Baaghi TV reports, in relation to this, the Energy Ministry sent out an official announcement to the SSGC concerning eleven government nominations on August 17 – among which was Dr Shamshad Akhtar’s name at the top of the list, as the Chairperson of the board.

A relative of the finance minister, Khalid Rehman, was also included in the list of nominees.

Aside from the SSGC, Dr Shamshad Akhtar is reportedly also heading the PICG as a chairperson of its Board of Directors (BoD). It is pertinent to note that the PICG was established as a public-private partnership after a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was co-signed by the SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan) and the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan), respectively. Also worth mentioning, are the investors for the PICG which include not only the SECP and the SBP but also the ICAP – the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan – all three organizations were established through acts of the Parliament.

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Shortly after her first public appearance as the finance minister, in August 2023, Dr Shamshad Akhtar released her policy statement that read: “Pakistan is an import dependent country and the commodity prices have to be passed on, as we do not have the fiscal space and any room for subsidies, which is going to hurt people — whether in the shape of electricity or fuel prices”.

About the IMF programme, the FM said at the time that Pakistan did not have a choice but to stick to the programme as it is “the only source of inflows at this point and other bilateral and multilateral inflows are tied up with the IMF inflows”. According to a report of The Tribune at the time, Dr Akhtar highlighted the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were causing “unbelievable losses” to the country stressing that the next elected government would have to re-engage with independent power producers.

The finance minister expressed that there was barely any fiscal space available with approximately seventy percent of the tax revenue being spent on interest payments. Dr Akhtar had remarked: “Unfortunately, we have done everything to weaken the economy”.

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On Friday, while addressing the inauguration of National Credit Guarantee Company Limited (NCGCL) the Caretaker FM expressed the conclusion of the first review of the IMF programme was a success and added that it was a “proud moment” for Pakistan.

According to a report by The Diplomat, Pakistan is committed to the privatization of SOEs as part of its current deal with the IMF as a significant step toward improving the country’s economic performance under the IMF’s directive that Pakistan should place almost 203 SOEs to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

However, despite the SOE Act 2023 clearly stating that a holder of a political office cannot continue to hold office as an independent director, Dr Shamshad Akhtar still holds the position of Chairperson for the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Furthermore, the finance minister was reportedly nominated on the stock exchange by the SECP, which is an entity directly answerable to the finance minister.

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