The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue Thursday unanimously passed “The Export-Import Bank of Pakistan Bill, 2022.”
The meeting of the committee was held at Parliament House with Senator Saleem Mandviwalla in the chair. The committee unanimously passed the bill moved by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar.
EXIM Bank CEO Irfan Bukhari told the committee that the bill will play a key role in boosting the country’s exports and will also provide a level playing field to the exporters. The major aim of the bill is to provide material support to exporters in delivering their products to the international markets, he added.
The committee also discussed in detail the “The State Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2022”, moved by the law minister. State Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha apprised the committee that 212 state-owned entities (SOEs) are controlled and administered by 20 different divisions of the federal government.
She said that in 2019 IMF highlighted the need for reforms in SOEs and the bill is aimed at improving efficiency in governance and transparency. It will also create a linkage between different SOEs which will play an effective role in timely decision-making, she added. Senator Mandviwalla deferred the consideration of the bill for further deliberations till the next meeting.
Dr. Pasha informed the committee that almost 50 percent of the budget recommendations of the committee have been accepted and implemented.
The meeting was attended by Senators Saadia Abbasi, Sherry Rehman, Faisal Saleem Rehman, Zeeshan Khanzada, Mohsin Aziz, Additional Secretary Ministry of Finance and Revenue Awais Manzur Sumra, Senior Joint Secretary Ministry of Finance and Revenue Sajid Mehmood Qazi, FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad, and other senior officers of finance ministry and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
