The government has agreed to the need for a mini-budget if revenues fall short of expectations by end-December 2025, according to the IMF. Photo: file
ISLAMABAD:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has objected to recently approved legal amendments that have limited public disclosure of assets of the parliamentarians, raising prospects for the reversal of the move that is also in breach of the Fund’s good governance and anti-corruption framework.
The global lender also inquired about recent amendments in another law — the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) — which granted three-year extension in the tenure of the incumbent National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.
The government has managed to defend the NAO amendment, said the sources privy to these discussions. But the authorities did not defend the amendments, which the National Assembly approved in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Act to selectively exempt the parliamentarians from the disclosure of their assets.
The sources said that the ECP secretary apprised the IMF that the commission was against any move that compromises transparency and restricts the right of the people to have access to the assets of their representatives.
The Law Division also informed the IMF that the government has so far not backed the amendments, which had been introduced as private legislation by members of the National Assembly belonging to the PPP. The IMF asked the Law Division to take clear and unequivocal position, said the sources.
The NA passed these amendment to the Elections Act, 2017 to limit public disclosure of legislators’ assets and liabilities in January this year only after the PML-N legislators voted in its favour.
The sources said the IMF inquired about the status of these amendments. It was told that the amendments have not become part of the law, as the Senate has not voted on the bill.
The bill was introduced in the National Assembly in May last year by MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri.
The National Assembly amended section 138. It approved a first proviso that states that the extent of disclosures made in the official gazette and in copies supplied to the public would be determined with due regard to maintaining a balance between public interest in good governance and an individual’s privacy and security.
The second proviso stated that the extent of such disclosure would be determined by the speaker of the concerned assembly and, in the case of the Senate, by the chairman.
Section 138 provides for the publication of members of parliament’s statements of assets and liabilities in the official gazette and allows public access to these statements. In 2023, the ECP amended the corresponding Rule 138 of the Election Rules, 2017, requiring applicants to provide identification, state the purpose for seeking the information through Form-67, and submit an affidavit affirming that the data obtained under Section 138 will not be misused.
The amendments in the ECP Law came at a time when the IMF was putting greater emphasis on the disclosure of the assets of the public servants. Under the $7 billion deal, Pakistan has made amendments in the Civil Servants Act to publicly disclose the assets of the federal bureaucracy.
However, a report by Global Think Tank Network — an independent association — had criticised the IMF for not imposing criminal penalties against civil servants whose assets are beyond their means.
NAO amendment
The sources said the IMF also took briefing about recent amendments in the NAO.
President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent last week to the NAO (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which allowed for an extension in the NAB chairperson’s term by another three years. NAB Chairman Lt General (retired) Nazir Ahmed’s term was set to expire last week but he go an extension.
Previously, a NAB chairman served a non-extendable term of three years and was not eligible for reappointment under the NAB Ordinance. An amendment to its Section 6 now allows the chairman to serve a three-year term that can be extended once for a period of three years by the federal government.
The sources said the Pakistani authorities informed the IMF that when the 2022 government deleted the original clause related to one-term extension, the IMF had objected to that. At that time, the IMF was of the view that the extension can ensure continuity of the policies, said the sources.
The IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report has flagged the need for a more transparent procedure for key appointments, including the NAB chairman. But the GTTN report stated that the IMF failed to call for widening the pool of candidates beyond the civil service, judiciary and military, which are widely seen as responsible for Pakistan’s current state, for the appointment of the chairman.
