Cabinet forms committee to amend ‘black’ NAB laws

ISLAMABAD - The federal cabinet Tuesday approved constitution of a committee to amend laws pertaining to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The cabinet which met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, approved that the committee to be headed by the Law Minister and comprises leading experts of law, banking, bureaucracy and other sectors. During the detailed discussion on amendments in the NAB law, the cabinet members termed it a black legislation, which has been used for political victimisation and to harass government employees and the business community. The cabinet also approved annulment of Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rules 2020 as well as ending disciplinary actions initiated against government officers under these rules. The cabinet said that these rules are being used to pressurise government officers, which have no justification.

It declared that new rules cannot be framed in the presence of already existing ones. The Cabinet said the process of accountability should be transparent and indiscriminate.

The cabinet gave approval to a design for a commemorative note to be issued on 75th Independence Day of the country and the establishment of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The cabinet decided to print this commemorative note within Pakistan to save precious wealth of the nation.

The cabinet was apprised that exports volume recorded during the first ten months of the current fiscal year as 31.2 billion dollars, while imports remained 76.7 billion dollars.

‘These rules are being used to pressurise government officers, which have no justification’

During the same period, a rise of 4.95 billion dollars was witnessed in exports, whereas imports surged to 11.16 billion dollars.

The meeting was told that there is an utmost need to import electricity and gas from the region and other countries on competitive rates to increase exports.

The cabinet directed the Commerce Division to prepare a detailed framework to decrease imports and enhance exports.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom presented the cabinet its recommendations to increase software exports.

The Prime Minister set the target for IT exports as 15 billion dollars as IT sector has great potential for investment and exports.

The cabinet consented to import 200,000 metric tons of urea to fulfill the needs for Kharif season.

The Prime Minister apprised that the country is facing a sever heatwave and a special task force has been constituted under the Ministry of Climate Change to take appropriate measures.

 

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