ISLAMABAD: In a bid to comply with the IMF’s structural benchmark (SB) by end of February, the government has to ensure an amendment to the Civil Servants Act by the parliament, making it mandatory for senior public office-holders (BS-17 to 22) to declare their assets.
On the other hand, the IMF’s technical mission on Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD) Assessment held virtual parleys with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on human resource, integrity management cell, recruitment process, remuneration and other related issues on Monday.
The mission will visit Pakistan in April this year to draft its report with the mandate to publish its findings by the end of July as part of the Structural Benchmark (SB) of the IMF program.
On asset declaration, the government has agreed with the IMF to amend the Civil Servants Act to ensure that the asset declarations of high-level public officials (including assets beneficially owned by them and a member of their family) are digitally filed and publicly accessible (with sufficient protection over private information) through the FBR, with a robust framework for risk-based verification by a single authority.
The IMF in its prescription says corruption, red tape, and a weak business climate are long-standing structural bottlenecks holding back Pakistan’s socio-economic development. Vested interests wield significant influence over the government functions and can block or reverse reforms.
In this regard, the Pakistani authorities requested capacity development support from the IMF staff to conduct a governance and corruption diagnostic assessment, and committed to publishing the report, including an action plan (end-July 2025 SB).
In addition, the authorities will formalize their intent to publish the full review report of its compliance with the UN Convention against Corruption through regulations to be issued by end-September 2024, once the review process is completed.
To address the impunity for corruption, allegations of politically motivated persecution and weak investigative capacities, the authorities will enhance, as required, the independence and effectiveness of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), following the expected ruling by the Supreme Court on the agency’s organic law.
To ensure accountability of public officials and deter illicit enrichment, asset declarations of high-level public officials (similar to members of parliament) will be made publicly accessible through legislative amendments (end-February 2025 SB), subject to safeguards of limited personal data. The asset declaration system will be digitalized through the FBR and subject to risk-based verification by the Establishment Division.
The Pakistani side made a commitment that they will strengthen institutional capacities to fight corruption to support inclusive growth and provide a level playing field for businesses and investments,
a. Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD) Assessment. With IMF capacity development support, we will undertake a GCD Assessment to analyze critical governance and corruption vulnerabilities and identify priority structural reforms moving forward. We will publish the full GCD report (structural benchmark, end-July 2025).
b. UNCAC Review Report. We will issue a federal regulation by end-September 2024 to formalize our intention to publish the full and complete UN Convention against Corruption Review Report immediately after the review process is completed. The Ministry of Law and Justice also published on its website the April 2024 Task Force Review Report and is developing a plan to implement the recommended actions.
c. National Accountability Bureau and Provincial Anti-Corruption Establishments. Subject to the decision of the Supreme Court on the petition on the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, we will consider enacting legislative amendments, if required, to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance to strengthen the NAB’s independence and effectiveness (Pakistan’s main anti-corruption agency). Separately, the Provincial Anti-Corruption Establishments will be empowered under the law to investigate money laundering related to corruption offenses within their jurisdiction, request and receive financial intelligence from the FMU as an investigating agency under the AML Act, and have sufficient resources and training to conduct parallel financial investigations.
d. Asset Declaration of High-Level Public Officials. To further operationalize the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1964 (Sections 12, 13, and 13-A) and consistent with the Right to Information Act of 2017, we will amend the Civil Servants Act of 1973 to ensure that asset declarations of high-level public officials (BPS 17-22) (including domestic and foreign assets beneficially owned by them or a member of their family) will be digitally filed and publicly accessible (with sufficient safeguards over data protection and privacy of personal information such as ID numbers, residential addresses, bank account or bond numbers) through the FBR with a robust framework, resources and tools for the Establishment Division to conduct risk-based verification (structural benchmark, end-February 2025).
e. Bank’s Access to Asset Declarations for AML/CFT Purposes. The SBP, FBR and FMU continue to support banks’ access to asset declarations of high-level public officials (BPS17-22), which has helped banks comply with their AML/CFT obligations and better risk-profile their customers who are politically exposed persons. In this regard, the SBP is engaging with banks to develop their standard operating procedures to implement the FBR rules on access to asset declarations. The FBR will launch by end-September a new digital portal to timely receive and respond to such requests. We are engaging with Provinces to issue regulations to similarly grant banks’ access to high-level provincial public officials (BPS17-22). We will continue to monitor banks’ utilization of asset declarations through periodic assessments, and address challenges identified in the assessments.