A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired by Noor Alam Khan on demanded a joint probe by some of the country’s top agencies against $3 billion zero-markup loans granted to 620 individuals during COVID-19.
The PAC chairman ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Military Intelligence (MI) to expose all parties responsible and to investigate over 600 people who took advantage of the disbursement.
Noor Alam Khan asserted during the meeting that billions of dollars were distributed to certain industrialists.
During the pandemic, banks issued these loans at low-interest rates, according to the PAC. The facility was designed to spur investment during the economic downturn caused by the spread of Covid-19.
The committee noted that on April 19, the Ministry of Finance was directed to share the identities of persons who received $3 billion in interest-free loans. The committee was disappointed that the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan have yet to submit this list.
It bears mentioning that PAC members have repeatedly sought the list of people to whom banks made easy loans during the previous government’s tenure.
