The government has accepted the need for a mini-budget if revenues fall short of expectations by the end of December 2025, according to the IMF. Photo: archive
ISLAMABAD:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has opposed recently passed legal amendments that have limited public disclosure of parliamentarians’ assets, raising prospects of reversing a measure that also violates the Fund’s good governance and anti-corruption framework.
The global lender also asked about recent amendments to another law, the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), which provided a three-year extension to the tenure of the current chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The Government has been able to defend the NAO amendment, say sources familiar with these discussions. But authorities did not defend amendments the National Assembly passed to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Act to selectively exempt parliamentarians from disclosing their assets.
Sources said the ECP secretary informed the IMF that the commission was against any measure that compromises transparency and restricts the right of the people to access the assets of their representatives.
The Legal Division also informed the IMF that the government has so far not endorsed the amendments, which had been introduced as private legislation by PPP members of the National Assembly. The IMF asked the Legal Division to take a clear and unambiguous position, the sources said.
The AN passed these amendments to the Electoral Act 2017 to limit public disclosure of legislators’ assets and liabilities in January this year only after PML-N legislators voted in their favour.
Sources said the IMF inquired about the status of these amendments. The amendments have reportedly not become part of the law, as the Senate has not voted on the bill.
The bill was introduced in the National Assembly in May last year by MPs Syed Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri.
The National Assembly amended Article 138. It approved a first provision stating that the scope of disclosures made in the official gazette and in copies provided to the public shall be determined with due regard to maintaining a balance between the public interest in good governance and the privacy and security of an individual.
The second condition established that the scope of such disclosure would be determined by the president of the assembly in question and, in the case of the Senate, by the president.
Article 138 provides for the publication of statements of assets and liabilities of members of parliament in the official gazette and allows public access to these statements. In 2023, the ECP amended the relevant Rule 138 of the Election Rules, 2017, requiring applicants to provide identification, indicate the purpose of seeking the information through Form-67 and file an affidavit affirming that the data obtained under Section 138 will not be misused.
The amendments to the ECP Law came at a time when the IMF was placing greater emphasis on the disclosure of assets of public servants. Under the $7 billion deal, Pakistan has made amendments to the Public Servants Act to publicly disclose the assets of the federal bureaucracy.
However, a report by the Global Think Tank Network, an independent association, criticized the IMF for not imposing criminal sanctions on officials whose assets are beyond their means.
NAO amendment
Sources said the IMF was also briefed on the recent amendments to the NAO.
President Asif Ali Zardari last week gave his assent to the NAO (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which allowed for an extension of the term of the NAB chairman by another three years. NAB Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed’s term was due to expire last week but he sought an extension.
Previously, a NAB Chairman served a non-renewable term of three years and was not eligible for re-election under the NAB Ordinance. An amendment to its Section 6 now allows the president to serve a three-year term that the federal government can extend once for a three-year period.
Sources said Pakistani authorities informed the IMF that when the 2022 government removed the original clause related to extension of a mandate, the IMF had opposed it. At the time, the IMF considered that the extension can ensure policy continuity, the sources said.
The IMF’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report has pointed out the need for a more transparent procedure for key appointments, including that of the NAB chairman. But the GTTN report claimed that the IMF did not ask to expand the pool of candidates beyond civil servants, judiciary and military, who are widely held responsible for Pakistan’s current state, for the appointment of the president.
