Pakistan has decided to investigate the possibility of withholding a large part of the United Nations Convention against Corruption’s (UNCAC) Country Review Report, six months after committing to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a full publication of the report.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made up a committee led by the Minister of Law with a mandate to review whether the report should be published in its entirety or should only be published about its executive summary, government sources said.

The decision was made days before the IMF is scheduled to seek implementation status on Pakistan’s obligation to fully publish the report.

An IMF review mission that began interactions on Monday for the second loan of $ 1 billion would apply for an update this Friday about Pakistan’s obligations before reaching a staff level.

This time, the IMF meets separately with the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi and with the federal government officials in Islamabad. During the first day, the fiscal related data were discussed with the IMF, including implementation status on the fiscal goals of the first half.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week was a seven-member cabinet selection for the UNCAC Country Review report. The committee consists of three federal ministers, three secretaries and Director -General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Pakistan ratified UNCAC in 2007 and its two review cycles are completed during the Convention. The country has the right to publish a full report or only print the executive summary.

However, the country had committed with the IMF last September that it would fully publish the report when it was completed.

“We will issue a federal regulation at the end-September 2024 to formalize our intention to publish the full and complete UNCAC review report immediately after the review process has been completed,” said the Memorandum for economic and economic policies that Pakistan signed as part of $ 7 billion Deal Package.

Under the same agreement, the IMF had sent the diagnostic assessment mission for management and corruption to Pakistan last month, who met with Chief Justice of Pakistan to review the appointment of judges and other judicial issues.

The corruption assessment mission will also end its assessment, and its report will be announced in July 2025, according to $ 7 billion.

The sources said the Ministry of Law had reported the case to the federal cabinet last month, and it sought the direction of the cabinet in the case. However, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assigned his law minister Azam Nazir Tarar to review whether to publish a full or partial report.

Among the other members are Minister of Information Atta Tarar, Prime Minister of Economics and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik, now increased as federal minister, the Ministry of Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Secretary Financing Department, Secretary Law and Justice Department and a DG Nab.

The cabinet has a mandate for the committee to investigate the country’s review report from Pakistan during the second review cycle of UNCAC.

Its other and most important mandate is that the committee would “examine the available options for Pakistan to publish the full report or its executive summary.

Until the submission of the story, the Minister of Information did not comment on the question of the need to hold back parts of the report, as Islamabad had already committed to publishing the full report.

The committee is tasked with submitting its recommendation on the publication of the report or its executive summary for the processing of the cabinet before March 13, which coincides with the end of the IMF mission to Pakistan.

A government official said Nigeria and Qatar had completed Pakistan’s assessment of anti -corruption and presented a scope report. He said some of the recommendations from the report are already under implementation.

These are related to overlapping the work of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and NAB and bringing the improvement of work with different regulatory organs.

The report has been prepared using the United Nations office on drugs and crime (UNODC). The expert teams usually prepare 80-300 pages’ review report and an executive overview of 7-12 pages.

The National Review Report and the executive summary are sent to the focal point of approval. In the event of disagreement, reviewers and contact point dialogue will participate in order to reach a consensual final report, which is only published with the full agreement in the under reviewed country.

The executive summary that was once completed by appointment has been translated into the six official languages ​​of the United Nations and made available as a document from Group in the implementation review.

The second cycle of the review report covers topics on preventive measures and the recovery of assets. The Ministry of Law and Justice has already published the report on Corruption Taskforce Review and develops a plan to implement the recommended actions.

Anti-Corruption Task Force had unanimously recommended that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should notify rules regarding declarations of assets for officials earning in the basic salary of 17-22 and their spouses. The IMF has now asked to make it a law pending for approval.

The Task Force had also recommended to change the Electoral Act to give a mandate to the unelected advisers and special assistants to the Prime Minister to make their declaration of assets and obligations.

It had recommended to make the necessary changes to the NAB -Act and the FIA ​​Act to ensure clear mandate definition, prepare a common offense list and establish coordination mechanisms between the two agencies to work harmoniously on the offenses that both agencies have jurisdiction.

There was also a proposal to provide education in jurisdictional limits to officers of NAB, FIA and the provincial anti -corruption departments.

Task Force recommended to repatriate the investigative officers of the FIA ​​who were sent at airports to treat immigration and task the said responsibility to any other strength.

In order to incorporate a culture of integrity among officials and educate the public as a whole about their right to seek disclosure of public information under the law on the right to information and on the regulatory framework that is in place to appropriately report any corrupt practice to the appropriate forum, a public campaign was recommended.