ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, Wednesday, that the Ministry of Finance should not intervene into the regulatory affairs such as imposition of penalty on banks by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

He made these observations during the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Wednesday, during the further review of “The Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2024”. On the issue of penalty imposition on banks, the finance minister stated that if the SBP imposes penalty on banks, it has been proposed that the Finance Ministry can intervene to resolve the issue. However, the finance minister said that the proposed amendment would not be in line with the spirit of the “The Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2024”.

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue meeting was convened, Wednesday, at the Parliament House, under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.

Cannot defer reform agenda anymore, says Aurangzeb

The senate committee has already approved both the Deposit Protection Corporation Amendment Bill, 2024, and the Banking Companies Amendment Bill, 2024.

The committee also considered to allow commercial banks to establish subsidiaries of the microfinance banks. An enabling provision has been proposed in the “the Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2024” in this regard, SBP official added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024