ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that the incumbent government is trying to bring about a unified law that would regulate both companies and state institutions.
In a joint press conference with Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar and Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz and others Shaikh said the Cabinet approved an amendment bill to make the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stronger and more autonomous.
The minister said the draft State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which would now be tabled in the Parliament, was aimed at ensuring the operational and administrative autonomy of the central bank and increase its scope and powers.
The finance minister said public listed companies and state institutions are at present functioning under separate laws. He informed three big laws had been approved that would strengthen Pakistan’s economy and intuitions.
He said, “In the tax system, there are several exemptions for the special sector —Br reducing tax exclusions or ending them, evasion can be bunged — and that will profit the common man.” Amendments have been made in tax laws to reduce the burden on the middle-class, the finance minister said.
Talking about privatization, Dr Shaikh said it was a tough nut to crack as it requires investors to step up. “Due to COVID-19, privatization has been delayed by 6-9 months,” he added.
The finance minister, promising the country would soon see results of privatization, said the program would be extended. “There are some companies that had to be privatized, though; it was delayed due to pandemic,” he said.
On this occasion, taking over the presser, Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Institutional Reforms and Austerity Ishrat Hussain said the government was working on bringing reforms in the state institutions. “Before PTI government came into power no one knew how many institutions we had.”
Now, after the government conducted a survey, we got to know that we have 1,441 institutions, he said. The advisor said as many as 56 chief executives, who were working abroad, had approached the government to work and collaborate with them.
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz also informed said the Federal Cabinet approved an amendment bill to make the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stronger.
Shibli Faraz said the cabinet approved in principle the draft law of Pakistan Institute of Education Act and sent it to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation.
Under the proposed law, a modern institution would be set up by merging the Academy of Educational Planning and Management, and the National Education Assessment System, a database of educational institutions.
He said the cabinet also approved the Out-of-School Children Framework. Under the framework, all the factors and motivations that prevented children from going to school were being examined. The framework also proposed strategies to bring out-of-school children back to school, he added.
The cabinet, the minister said, also approved the procedure for distribution of donations provided by the Government of Pakistan to the SAARC COVID- 19 Emergency Fund. It may be recalled that the cabinet had already approved the donation of $ 3 million to the fund.
