That Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has been insisting that ministries have been delegated powers to look after the administrative matters of respective regulatory bodies is a ploy aimed at befooling people. The government move has deprived the regulators of whatever independence and autonomy they enjoyed previously. Little does the finance minister know that it would make prospective foreign investor suspicious about the business environment in the country. As reported by Business Recorder yesterday, soon after handing over the administrative control of Nepra to the Ministry of Water and Power, Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has directed the regulator to allow 17 percent IRR of withholding tax on dividend as a pass-through item to a Chinese company in the transmission tariff as per actual payment.
The government must rescind its decision without any further loss of time. Bringing regulators under the oversight or control of line ministries will not augur well for the economic prospects of the country.