I think it is fair to inform the IMF that our government has not completely eliminated or planned to eliminate some avenues of corruption and request the IMF to ask the government to finally end them this year. It has been confirmed many times that high denomination bank notes like the Rs5000 note, have allowed corrupt officers to receive cash bribes. It has also allowed the storage of untaxed money by corrupt individuals. Many previous governments have announced an end to the Rs5000 note but it is still around and there appears to be no fixed withdrawal date. Cash bonds are also quite prone to similar problems. The IMF is therefore requested to ask the Government to announce the final cut off dates for prize bonds and Rs5000 bank notes to end corruption and bring unaccounted cash into the tax net.
Engr Shahryar Khan Baseer
Islamabad