Finance Minister, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is said to have been asked by some of his Cabinet colleagues to tell them whether or not it was absolutely necessary to accept all conditions of IMF. These reservations were expressed at the last meeting of cabinet held on 9th Mar’21 with PM in the chair, when the summary of ‘The State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ came under consideration. Submission of the amendments in the SBP Act, 1956 to the Parliament constitutes a ‘Prior Action’ under the IMF Programme 2019- 22 for the upcoming Board meeting of the Fund, which needed to be completed without any delay. However, it was informed that the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) might not be able to meet during the next 14 days. Finance Division, therefore, sought the approval of the Cabinet to: waive, in consideration of the urgency, the condition of submitting the draft ‘State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ to the CCLC; and approve the Bill for introduction in the Parliament in terms or Rule 16(l)(a), read with Rule 27, of the Rules of Business, 1973.
16/3/2021