ISLAMABAD: The meeting of the Finance Committee of National Assembly was postponed on Monday - despite a heavy agenda of national importance, ie, from circular debt issue to amendments to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act, and briefing on current status of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - after no one from the treasury and the opposition except the chairman and one member turned up.
The chairman of the committee after waiting for more than half an hour announced deferral of the meeting that was scheduled to receive briefing from the Finance Ministry on rise in circular debt, its ramification on various sectors of the economy, and what measures, so far, the government has taken to reduce the quantum.
With regard to absence of opposition members, speculations were opposition members absence was understandable as committee might have been busy in political activities in Lahore, however, it was hard to understand that treasury members also did not turn up to push through their critical items on the agenda. Chairman of the committee Faiz Ullah and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) member of the committee Ali Pervez have only been present in the committee room.
The meeting was to consider and approve purposed amendments in the SBP Ordinance to enable services Corporation (SBP banking service corporation) to optimise its operational efficiency, thereby bringing it in inconformity with the emerging needs.
The proposed amendments in the Ordinance are (i) a new sub-section has been introduced in Section 9, in line with good governance for the appointment of an acting managing director provided that the within 60 days from the date of vacancy, provided that the managing director will be appointed within a period of three months from the date of the occurrence of vacancy; (ii) the power of the board of directors to appoint external auditors has been proposed in line with good governance; (iii) an enabling clause on creation of subsidiaries by the SBP BSC with the approval of the Board and State Bank under the Ordinance has been introduced for operational efficiency; (iv) amendments have been proposed to exempt the gratuity and provident fund of employees of the bank from attachment as already provided for, in case of pensioners to make the Ordinance consistent with the existing compensation benefits; (v) in order to provide adequate protection to the bank and the officers of the bank for action taken in good faith amendments have been proposed in Section 28 of the Ordinance; (vi) a new Section 24A has been proposed to legally protect the proceedings of the board and the committees of the board from any questions arising only on the grounds of any vacancy or any defect in the constitution of the board.
Another agenda of the committee was to consider a bill to make provisions for the establishment of Pakistan single-window operation.
The prime minister has designated Pakistan Customs as the lead agency to establish single window (NSW).
The NSW is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import export, and transit-related regulatory requirements.
Implementation of NSW enables Pakistan to meet its obligations under the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement, while improving ease of doing business in cross-border trade.
The Steering Committee notified upon directives of the prime minister has already approved detailed Project Design Document developed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with support from international consortium of experts.
This document recommends promulgation of a new Pakistan Single Window (PSW) Act in the light of Recommendation Number 35 of the United Nations Centre for Electronic Trade (UN/CEFACT) and gap analysis of existing laws.
Accordingly the PSW Bill, 2020, has been drafted in consultation with all relevant stakeholders by the FBR.
The proposed draft law provides legal basis for adoption of functional, operational, governance and revenue models required to develop and operate NSW system on sustainable basis, and in line with the best international practices. It also covers deficiencies in various laws for regulation of cross-border trade to ensure transition from paper-based systems to the ICT-based approach.
The bill will enable adoption of features such as electronic documentation, automated processing, integrated risk management, joint inspections, e-payments, and information exchange etc. The adoption of this bill will help Pakistan to comprehensively improve transparency, efficiency and controls in imports, exports and transit trade besides meeting its international obligation.
It will also help Pakistan to unlock its potential in becoming a regional hub for trade and transit by reducing time, cost and complications associated with fulfillment of multiple paper-based regulatory requirements. The finance committee was to also consider Post Office Cash Certificate Act 1917.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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