The government has accepted the need for a mini-budget if revenues do not meet expectations by the end of December 2025, according to the IMF. Photo: file
ISLAMABAD:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has objected to recently approved legislative changes that have limited public disclosure of parliamentarians’ assets, raising the prospect of a reversal of the move, which is also at odds with the fund’s good governance and anti-corruption framework.
The global lender also queried recent changes to another law – the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) – which granted a three-year extension to the incumbent chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The government has managed to defend the NAO change, said the sources familiar with these discussions. But the authorities did not defend the changes the National Assembly approved in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Act to selectively exempt parliamentarians from the disclosure of their assets.
The sources said the ECP secretary brought to the notice of the IMF that the commission was against any move that compromises transparency and restricts the people’s right to access the assets of their representatives.
The Law Division also informed the IMF that the government has so far not supported the amendments, which had been introduced as private legislation by members of the National Assembly belonging to the PPP. The IMF asked the Law Division to take a clear and unequivocal stand, the sources said.
The NA passed this amendment to the Electoral Act 2017 to limit the disclosure of the assets and liabilities of the legislators in January this year, only after the PML-N legislators voted for it.
The sources said the IMF was asking about the status of these changes. It was told that the changes have not become part of the law as the Senate has not voted on the bill.
The bill was tabled in the National Assembly last May by MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri.
The National Assembly amended section 138. It approved a first proviso stating that the extent of publication in the Official Gazette and in copies made available to the public would be determined with due regard to maintaining a balance between the public interest in good governance and an individual’s privacy and security.
The second proviso stated that the extent of such publication would be determined by the Speaker of that Assembly and, in the case of the Senate, by the Speaker.
Section 138 allows for the publication of members of parliament’s statements of assets and liabilities in the official gazette and provides public access to these statements. In 2023, the ECP amended the corresponding Rule 138 of the Election Rules, 2017, requiring applicants to provide identification, state the purpose of seeking the information through Form-67 and submit an affidavit confirming that the data obtained under Section 138 will not be misused.
The changes in the ECP law came at a time when the IMF placed greater emphasis on the disclosure of the public servants’ assets. Under the $7 billion deal, Pakistan has made changes to the Civil Service Act to publicly disclose the assets of the federal bureaucracy.
However, a report by the Global Think Tank Network – an independent association – had criticized the IMF for not imposing criminal sanctions against officials whose assets are beyond their means.
NAO change
The sources said the IMF also took stock of the latest changes in the NAO.
President Asif Ali Zardari last week gave his assent to the NAO (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provided for an extension of the NAB chairman’s term by another three years. NAB chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed’s tenure was set to expire last week but he extended.
Earlier, a NAB Chairman served for a non-renewable term of three years and was not eligible for re-appointment under the NAB Regulation. An amendment to its Section 6 now allows the President to serve a three-year term, renewable once for a period of three years by the federal government.
The sources said the Pakistani authorities informed the IMF that when the government deleted the original clause for extension of one term in 2022, the IMF had objected to it. At the time, the IMF was of the view that the extension can ensure policy continuity, the sources said.
The IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report has flagged the need for a more transparent procedure for key appointments, including the NAB chairman. But the GTTN report stated that the IMF failed to call for widening the pool of candidates beyond the civil service, the judiciary and the military, widely seen as responsible for Pakistan’s current state, for the appointment of the chairman.
