ISLAMABAD  -   The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue has recommended the “State Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) (Amendment) Bill, 2023” with amendments.

A meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was held at Parliament House on Wednesday with Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in chair. The Senate deliberated on the Bill titled “State Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) (Amendment) Bill, 2023.” Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi, the bill’s mover, stated that the primary objective is to restrain the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officers of State Owned Enterprises from using company assets for political and monetary purposes, proposing disqualification for such actions.

The Committee made two amendments in the amendment bill: firstly, reduced the 20 years of relevant experience for the Chief Executive Officer to 10 years and changed the words ‘Personal gains and Political point scoring’ to ‘Personal and Monetary Gains’.

The Senate body discussed the motion moved by Senator Zarqa Suharwardy on controlling the non-development expenditure of the government. The secretary of the Finance Division stated that the government is complying with austerity measures, resulting in government spending for the current fiscal year staying within the budget. The Committee directed the Finance Division to provide details of the budget saved following the issuance of austerity measures notification, issued by the Finance Division. While discussing the public petition for the deletion of the proviso in the Customs Act 1969 added by the Finance Act, 2022, Chairman FBR maintained that the proviso in Customs Act 1969 cannot be deleted as it is part of the Finance Act, 2022, and he assured the Committee that the FBR will consider the concerned proviso at the time of passage of the upcoming Finance Bill.

Furthermore, the Committee deliberated on the matter of Al Madina Floor Mills Aza Khel District Nowshera for providing fund subsidy, as assured by the Secretary of Finance. Imdad Ullah Bosal stated that the provision of funds would not be possible without a supplementary grant and requested the committee to invite the Secretary of National Food Security in the next meeting. 

Moreover, the committee was briefed on the news circulating in the media concerning the restructuring of FBR. Chairman FBR stated that the government is undertaking the restructuring of FBR, and its finalization requires amendments to the FBR Act. The Committee raised a question about whether the Interim Government is mandated to undertake such restructuring. Additionally, the Committee deferred the Government Bills titled ‘The Deposit Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ and ‘The Banking Companies Amendment Bill, 2024’ until the next meeting.”

The committee took up the matter of Rs410 million that went missing from an overseas Pakistani’s account in Karachi. The aggrieved party apprised the committee that they had transferred the amount from Noor Bank Dubai to Dubai Islamic Bank, Karachi in 2017. However, last year when they went to the bank for withdrawal, the bank replied that they had already withdrawn the amount and closed their account. They further added that bank officials had withdrawn their money by committing forgery, and currently, the matter is with the FIA. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla stated that in the recent period, certain events have revealed that the State Bank has failed to protect the interests of depositors.

The Committee decided to invite the Chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank and the Director of FIA, along with Investigating Officers, in the next meeting for further deliberations. In attendance were Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Saadia Abbasi, Senator Zeeshan Khanzada, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Bahram and Khan Tangi, Senator Zarqa Suharwardy, Secretary Finance Division Imdad Ullah Bosal, Chairman FBR Malik Amjed Zubair Tiwana, Governor SBP Jameel Ahmed and other senior officials of relevant departments were also in attendance.