NA passes amendment requiring top officials to publicly declare assets

ISLAMABAD: In a bold power move that’s bound to shake up the country’s power brokers, the National Assembly on Friday passed a game-changing amendment to the Civil Servants Act, forcing top government officials to air their financial dirty laundry – publicly.

The new law, Section 15-A, demands that civil servants from Grade 17 to Grade 22 disclose not only their own wealth but also the financial details of their spouses and dependents, including assets, liabilities, and loans. And here’s the real bombshell: this financial intel will be made available to the public for all to see. Gone are the days when bureaucrats could quietly pad their pockets without a second thought.

Now, every asset, every debt, will be exposed to the public eye – under the watchful gaze of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), including those working within the tax-collecting powerhouse itself.

Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill passed: Senior officials obliged to disclose all assets

For years, asset declarations from the country’s bureaucratic elite have been shrouded in secrecy. But this new legislation aims to bring much-needed transparency and accountability to the country’s entrenched bureaucratic establishment.

It’s worth noting, however, that the country’s political elite remains silent when it comes to asset declarations for the military bureaucracy, which is still unwilling – or perhaps too powerful – to allow any such legislation that would expose their financial dirty laundry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025