The Senate on Friday approved the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, 2021 amid strong protests by opposition benches.
The bill was passed by the Upper House, with the Treasury Bench enjoying a modest lead of 43 members over the opposition’s 42. The bill was introduced by Finance Minister Senator Shaukat Tarin.
The passage of the bill is one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of $1 billion to the country.
The IMF board meeting is scheduled to take place on January 28 and will consider Pakistan’s request for approval for the release of funds. However, it is linked to earlier actions – the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021.
The Finance (Supplementary) Act, 2021, has already been enacted through Parliament.
The opposition parties are expressing strong concern over the SBP bill saying that it deals with Pakistan.economic sovereignty and gives SBP full authority to make major economic decisions independently”.
The SBP Amendment Bill, 2021, promises complete autonomy to the central bank and places a complete ban on government borrowing from the central bank. However, the government can now borrow from commercial banks at market rates, which, according to the opposition, would benefit private banks owned by the business elite.
As proceedings began today, opposition benches insisted on asking Senate President Sadiq Sanjrani to introduce the SBP Amendment Bill to the Treasury benches, however, due to Tareen’s absence at the time, the bill was not introduced.
Senator Sherry Rahman said the government did not want to introduce the bill for fear of being rejected.
He said the government has lost and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Tarin later introduced the bill which was put to vote amid sloganeering by the opposition. The bill was approved shortly after.
After this the Speaker adjourned the session till 31 January.
54 amendments have been made including 10 new sections introduced The SBP Act 1956 through an amendment bill, which was first approved in the cabinet meeting on March 3, 2021. It was amended earlier this month following comments from the Law Division, Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
The proposed amendments include domestic price stability as a primary objective of the SBP. To achieve this, the central bank will be guided by the medium-term inflation target set by the government.
Although supporting the government’s development agenda would be a tertiary objective of the SBP, the central bank is believed to continue the government’s policies for economic development in so far as it supports its primary objectives of price and financial stability. does not weaken.