The Upper House of Parliament on Friday passed the controversial State Bank (Amendment) Bill 2021 amid protests by opposition benches.
On 13 January, the National Assembly passed the SBP Autonomy Bill along with the Supplementary Finance Bill – both of which were a requirement for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
The approval of the State Bank Amendment Bill was necessary to ensure that the Sixth Review of Pakistan's $6 billion Extended Funds Facility (EFE) is approved by the IMF's executive board, which is to decide on the disbursement of the $1 billion tranche. To meet on 2 February. ,
When Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Shaukat Tarin moved a motion for permission to introduce the SBP bill, opposition members opposed it. A motion to vote by way of division was put forward and passed by 44 votes against 43, in a first blow to the opposition earlier in the day.
The bill was passed with a majority as the opposition continued to express its reservation.
The session of the Senate has been adjourned till 3 pm on Monday.
Who was absent today?
During the session, 12 members, including eight from the opposition, two from the government and two members of independent candidate Dilawar Khan's faction, remained absent.
PPP's Yousuf Raza Gilani, Qasim Ranjo and Sikandar Mendro did not attend the session.
The opposition members Shafiq Tareen and Naseema Ehsan of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party did not attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, JUI's Talha Mahmood and Hidayatullah and Dilawar Khan, two of the six members of the group Hilal-ur-Rehman, were absent from the meeting.
Among the government colleagues, MQM senators Faisal Sabzwari and Khaleda Ateeb were absent from the meeting.
Sherry Rehman targeted the government
Earlier, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman via Twitter slammed the PTI-led government for taking away the country's autonomy for decision-making by trying to bulldoze the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021.
In a series of tweets, Rahman objected to the release of the agenda for today's meeting of the Senate.
The senator said the release of the agenda at such a time was "unprecedented for the government's standards of parliamentary manipulation", which was also evidence of the government's "intimidation".
"This is how the government is trying to bulldoze the SBP's 'autonomy' bill, thereby stripping the country of its ability to make sovereign decisions in times of national crisis," he wrote.
Rahman further said that the government wants to convey to the IMF that the SBP bill was passed with parliamentary approval, but in reality, the entire opposition is against it.
Rahman said, "While it is not always prudent to borrow from the State Bank, often inflationary, the IMF's condition that Pakistan's central bank cannot raise funds is the need to raise funds in a national emergency, even in war." will affect our sovereign capacity." this is unacceptable.
The senator further said that central banks are autonomous only to the extent they make monetary policy, but it appears that PTI has borrowed so much in the last three-and-a-half years of its rule that commercial banks will soon become the sole lender. .
"What will happen to SBP, the lender of last resort when the crisis hits? What will happen to the government's ability to reduce sovereign guarantees in large projects?" He asked.
Rahman said the debts have been listed as contingent liabilities so that the IMF can cover them as well.
"Such conditions are unheard and rejected by the united opposition," he said.
Rahman concluded, "Have we heard the Finance Minister saying that the central bank should advise commercial banks that the government may default on their domestic loans? What is happening here? Lending has gone through the roof, But it is quite unprecedented."