Jan 28, 2022: SBP amendment bill included in 8-point agenda and is being discussed in the senate session.

According to reports, Senate session is underway under the chairmanship of Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, in which SBP amendment bill is also included in the eight-point agenda. Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen will present the bill for approval.

PPP Vice President and Senator Sherry Rehman in her statement regarding the SBP Bill said that the agenda released at midnight for the Senate session states the hidden objectives of the government. She alleged that the government wants to snatch Pakistan’s ability to make independent decisions in times of national crisis, adding that the government is trying to bulldoze through a bill threatening the sovereignty of the State Bank.

Sherry Rehman said that there will be a threat to the government’s ability to provide independent guarantees in big projects. These are listed as emergency liabilities, so the IMF can now control them as well. The opposition is against this decision of the government. The IMF has made it a condition that the central bank should not give money to Pakistan in any crisis. This will affect our sovereign and ability to borrow money from the central bank in national emergencies, even in wars. Borrowing from the central bank is the last resort to deal with the crisis in every country.

Senator Sherry Rehman further said that this law is totally unacceptable. If the bill is passed, SBP will work under the supervision of IMF and not Pakistan. She lambasted the bill saying this version of Pakistan in which institutions are being mortgaged is not acceptable.

She said the bill wants the the SBP to warn the commercial banks against defaulting on loans taken by the federal government.

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