The Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday summoned Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for a detailed briefing on the IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report, as lawmakers sharply criticised the government’s handling of governance and corruption issues.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, the meeting, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla on Wednesday, saw heated exchanges over allegations of systemic failures, administrative misconduct and high-level absenteeism.
Senator Farooq H Naek said the entire system of the country is rotten and questioned where governance exists. He asked the Finance Ministry whether it accepts the report, which concerns corruption within the government and civil bureaucracy, and whether the report is accurate or false.
Officials from the Finance Ministry replied that the IMF report contains nothing new, but they cannot label the report as correct or incorrect. The officials told the committee that publication of the IMF corruption diagnostic report was a mandatory condition for the release of the latest loan tranche.
Lawmakers, however, demanded clarity on whether the government accepted the report’s findings.
Senator Farooq Naek asked whether the ministry considered the report, focused on corruption in government and civil bureaucracy, to be accurate. The ministry responded that the report carried “nothing new,” though it could neither endorse nor reject it.
Senator Abdul Qadir accused the government of failing to act against corruption, citing incidents involving officials who allegedly withdrew billions of rupees in cash and fled abroad, as well as an accounts officer who managed to appoint himself as Member Estate in the CDA and engaged in corruption for two years. He said the officer’s brother later withdrew funds linked to the Sukkur–Hyderabad motorway project.
The committee also discussed an incident within the Federal Board of Revenue in which commissioners reportedly drew a pistol on FBR Member Mir Badshah Wazir during a dispute over tax refunds. Despite a prime ministerial inquiry order, no action has been taken against the member, Senator Dilawar Khan noted.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) briefed the committee on PayPak cards, informing lawmakers that 53 million debit cards are in use nationwide, with 90 percent used domestically and 10 percent abroad, while PayPak holds a 25 percent share.
Senators criticised the SBP for failing to promote the local payment card scheme, prompting officials to concede that public awareness remained low. Senator Shahzaib Durrani urged that PayPak cards be made mandatory.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla expressed anger over the absence of the finance minister, finance secretary, minister of state and FBR chairman from the meeting.
Senator Abdul Qadir also questioned the persistent absence of the SBP governor. The additional finance secretary informed the committee that all senior officials were attending a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House.
Confusion over financial irregularities also surfaced when Senator Kamran Murtaza claimed the Auditor General had reported Rs 375 trillion in discrepancies—an amount the Deputy Auditor General corrected as a writing error, stating the actual figure was Rs 9.76 trillion.
Senator Kamran Murtaza demanded an affidavit confirming the correction, but Senator Naek asked the committee to move on, remarking that no one in Pakistan accepts responsibility for financial losses.
The FBR also briefed the committee on the Income Tax (Third Amendment) Bill and said the Alternative Dispute Resolution system would be activated following Supreme Court directions.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla criticised the FBR for ignoring Parliament’s repeated instructions, saying the board “only understands the language of force.” Senator Zamir Hussain urged the use of the contempt of Parliament law against the FBR for non-compliance.
