Raza Rabbani asks govt to brief parliament on financial deals related to coronavirus

ISLAMABAD: Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani on Thursday said that the government should present weekly reports on its financial agreements related to the coronavirus pandemic, in order to ensure transparency.

Rabbani said that the government wants to take more loans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which is wreaking havoc on an already over-burdened economy.

He said that the government has contacted the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, asking for more than three billion dollars in grants.

The former Senate chairman went on to say that the government had previously avoided making the financial agreements public.

He said that a session of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) should be held every week, where details of the agreements, transactions and other details should be presented.

The progress of the CCI sessions should then be put forth in the parliament, he added.

"The government and the National Disaster Management Authority should present weekly reports before the parliament," said the veteran politician.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled a financial relief package worth around Rs1.2 trillion to ward off the negative impact of coronavirus on the country.

The package included reducing prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs15 per litre, providing Rs3,000 monthly stipend for daily wagers, and improving liquidity crunch for exporters and industrialists.