ZTBL officials tell Senate body: Notification to write off loans given to erstwhile FATA to be issued soon

A parliamentary panel on Monday was informed that the notification to write off loans given to the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) would be issued soon.

Giving a briefing to Senate Standing Committee on State and Frontier Regions (Safron), which met here with Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi, the officials of Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL) said that they were in touch with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the notification to write off the loans till 2012 would be issued soon.

They said that the decision to write off the loans given to the people of erstwhile Fata till 2012 has been taken in light of the recommendations given by the Senate Standing Committee on Safron, and the SBP will give its point of view.

The committee also discussed the provision of gas to the erstwhile tribal areas. The officials of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) said that the government was serious about provision of gas to the newly-merged districts and soon the demand of the people would be met. The committee directed the authorities that the issue of gas to the area should be materialized in 2020-2021 at all costs, as it has been pending since 2009-2010.

The officials said that previous government had also worked on this, but due to the poor law and order situation, they could not succeed in providing gas to the area.