The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance has approved the Exim Bank of Pakistan Bill 2021 and sought a complete record of the institution’s business plan and amounts paid to consultants via external funding.
A meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance of the National Assembly was held under the chairmanship of Faizullah Kamuka in Islamabad today. Senior members of the leadership, as well as concerned stakeholders, were present for deliberation on various fiscal policies.
After detailed discussions, the NA committee approved the Exim Bank bill. A briefing on Exim Bank’s business plan was sought from the concerned authorities at the next meeting. Irfan Bukhari, CEO of Exim Bank, said the new Bank would be the 64th bank of its kind in the world.
During the meeting, it was informed that the Exim Bank of Pakistan Bill 2021, as well as associated SOPs and staff recruitment, have been finalized. The Bank will be located in Islamabad, and its establishment is expected to boost the country’s exports. Overall, imports and exports will be supported financially by the Bank.
The meeting was also briefed on the issuing of micro-loans financed by the World Bank. Members of the committee highlighted a variety of concerns about the US$ 137 million project. During the session, Ahsan Iqbal claimed that the estimated cost of the project in PSDP is Rs. 200 million but the expenditure of Rs. 5 billion and payment to the consultant is doubtful.
The committee sought a record of all payments made to consultants through external financing over the past 15 years. Details of the World Bank’s program to increase tax revenue were also sought. Hina Rabbani Khar, who was also present at the meeting, stated that assigning 22 percent of the funds collected for the project for loans was problematic and required an urgent redressal.
Committee members expressed reservations about not including amendments of the Opposition in the recently passed SBP Amendment Bill 2021. In response, the chairman of the committee said that the committee fulfilled its responsibility and listened to the opposition completely.
The opposition amendments were not included in the SBP bill, according to Qaiser Sheikh. The committee had determined that the choice to set the dollar rate and charge interest on loans to a financial institution was incorrect. The chairman stated that the committee spent 40 minutes listening to Ahsan Iqbal and 35 minutes listening to Naveed Qamar before making modifications.
To recall, the Finance Division was given two months to operationalize the Exim Bank of Pakistan in the recently authorized Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2020-25, based on the directions of the Federal Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee. The Commerce Ministry transmitted this to the Finance Division, along with a request to commence action towards the Bank’s operationalization.
As regulations dictate, the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan (EXIMBP) — or simply, Exim Bank — has been set up by the Finance Division for the promotion, expansion, and diversification of international trade by providing credit, guarantee, and insurance products. This includes ancillary services to exporters and importers in the form of a statutory corporation that has the backing and support of the Government of Pakistan, which is customary for export credit agencies to achieve their desired potential and objectives.
The Bank was declared a Development Finance Institution (DFI) on 9 June 2015 and incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 as a company limited by shares on 11 June 2015.