Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali has asked the Finance Ministry to help facilitate Taj Company in making payment of its outstanding loans.
While distributing cheques among the affectees of Taj Company here at Governor House on Friday, he said that the government is making efforts to provide relief to the affectees of Taj Company with a sense of responsibility and sympathy and trying its best to compensate the affectees of Taj Company.
He said that Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has assured him that he would try his best to facilitate the Taj Company in clearing its outstanding loans of banks. He also asked the governors and chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh to do their best to provide relief to the affectees of Taj Company.
He said that Rs 408 million was being paid to Taj Company affectees while Rs 18 million and another Rs 31 million had already been paid to them. He said that the government would not close down the Company.
Later, while talking to newsmen the Prime Minister denied that the present government was involved in horse trading.
"When we were needing votes we did not indulge in horse trading. Now why should we do this?" he added.
He said that people are expecting good services and developmental works in their respective constituencies. "If anybody keeps on getting dictation from abroad it's not a good thing." However, he said, if PPPP wants to join treasury benches he would welcome them.
He said that there was no need of holding fresh elections, as the present government is serving the masses wholeheartedly. He said that the government is trying its best for poverty alleviation. "We would continue to work for the betterment of the country," he added.
Earlier, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz emphasised upon the investors not to hand over their hard earned money to unscrupulous persons on the promise of hefty profit, which is not possible in any business anywhere.
He advised that instead of investing in dubious schemes, people should invest in stock markets directly or through mutual funds, which are giving reasonable returns to investors.
"In case of any confusion or clarifications, the investors may directly approach the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for proper assistance and guidance," he said.
According to him, the history of financial scams in Pakistan indicates that certain unscrupulous elements have been depriving the innocent and unwary people of their hard-earned money by launching lucrative schemes from time to time.
These included the lottery schemes of the mid-50s, finance companies of the 70s and co-operative societies' scandal in the 1990s. These activities flourished primarily due to absence of a robust legal and regulatory framework.
He said the government has concentrated on strengthening the legal framework as well as institutional capacities of the concerned regulatory bodies, ie, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Both apex regulators have been completely restructured and given full administrative, operational and financial autonomy.
These authorities are now performing their functions in such a proactive and professional manner that chances of any such scandals in future have been considerably diminished.
They are now equipping themselves to deal with these financial scandals effectively, he added.
Shaukat also talked about the recent scam of so-called forex companies and claimed that timely action by the SECP and SBP saved a large number of people who were victims of these fraudulent investment schemes.
Both regulatory action and judicial resources by the SECP were timely and effective, he added.
He said that the actions initiated by the SECP and its follow-up from time to time made the refund of the money to the depositors of Taj Company possible. It was the result of effective intervention by the SECP that the inefficient and corrupt management of Taj Company was removed thereby saving the available assets of the company.
In addition, the defaulter directors and auditors were prosecuted and punished by the court.
Justice Abdul Hafeez Cheema said that Taj Company was established in 1929 and was taken over by the government in 1991.
At that time Rs 2650 million were the liabilities of the company as against Rs 550 million assets of the company. He appreciated the role of SECP and State Bank of Pakistan in sorting out the issues of Taj Company.