ISLAMABAD – The government of Pakistan has notified asset declarations of civil servants and their families, a move aimed at meeting a condition set by the global lender, as the country’s top leaders are desperately making moves to woo IMF for a stalled bailout package.
The fifth most populous country teeters on the brink of debt default while the Sharif-led government continues to make moves to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to avert delayed tranches of a bailout package while facing the worst economic crisis in recent times.
Lately, the Federal Board of Revenue notified “Sharing of Declaration of Assets of Civil Servants Rules, 2023” for making civil servants’ assets public.
The announcement directed public office holders, from grades 17-22, to declare their assets and members of their families to the apex tax collection authority on Jan 31 and July 31. It is to be noted that commercial banks will access the asset data of federal employees in the first phase and it will be extended to provincial employees in the second phase.
The development comes as US-based lender demanded Pakistan to tweak laws for asset declaration of civil servants, and demanded to form an authority and Electronic Assets Declaration System to ensure transparency.
It is pertinent to mention that the IMF delegation was on a visit to cash strapped nation to hold talks with the coalition government as Islamabad eyed striking a staff-level agreement with the global lender to secure stalled loan tranche.
