ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, on Tuesday, asked, has any other country granted the unprecedented autonomy that we are allowing to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demand.
Talking to reporters after appearing before Accountability Court in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) case, he questioned that has anybody weighed the consequences of granting autonomy to the central bank? What impact will it have on the country’s sovereignty and poor people of our country?
The country is facing the worst economic crisis in three years, while the finance minister has claimed that they have added an additional tax of only Rs2 billion in the mini budget.
“The government presented finance bill for approval in the National Assembly and then adjourned proceedings without any debate,” he said.
About the chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB), he said that the chairman NAB has been working on daily wages for the past four months. The head of the country’s top anti-graft body is working illegally, he said, adding that when the immunity enjoyed by the chairman NAB is withdrawn, then the chairman NAB, bureau prosecutors, and others who had made fake cases against politicians would be held accountable.
To a question, he said that only opposition parties talks about public interests. The premier and other ministers make hundreds of speeches yet never talk about the people, he said.
Earlier, he and other accused appeared before Accountability Court-II judge Muhammad Azam Khan in the LNG case and the court marked their attendance. During the hearing, Abbasi’s counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan conducted cross examination of the prosecution witness Asad Tirmizi.
During the cross examination, the witness said that it is correct that the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) was initially tasked to float tender for second LNG terminal, bids were received, evaluation was being done but bidders raised grievances due to which tender was scraped.
Thereafter, the matter was handled by the Pakistan LNG Terminals Limited (PLTL), he said. It is correct that the board of directors of the SSGCL is the final decision making body, he said. After completion of the cross examination of the witness by Abbasi’s counsel, the court adjourned hearing of the case till January 11.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022