Senators seek details of Rs360 bn loans obtained from NBP

Senate told names of borrowers can’t be disclosed under Section 33-A of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962 and Section 9 of Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in the Senate Tuesday called on the government to reveal names of persons and companies, who had obtained Rs360 billion loans from the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) from July 2011 to June 2016, of which Rs271 billion were outstanding.

The PPP parliamentary leader in the House Senator Taj Haider claimed that so far a total of 169 state entities were privatised (which used to pay Rs200 billion direct tax), of which only 21 were functioning, as he found no written reply to his related question. 

The House was also told that from 69 percent to 82 percent water samples were found contaminated or unsafe for human consumption through a survey of 2,807 villages of 24 districts across Pakistan, conducted by Pakistan Council of Research and Water Resources (PCRWR). Major contamination was due to bacteria (coliforms and E.Coli), toxic metals (mainly arsenic), turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDSs), nitrate and fluoride.

During the question hour, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told the House that Rs271 billion outstanding loans consisted of Rs216 billion regular loans and Rs55 billion non-performing loans (NPLs). He said no loan was written off of these disbursed in the last five years. 

The ruling PML-N Senator Ch Tanvir Khan had asked the question. Speaking on behalf of the finance minister, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said the NPLs were not written off loans and were recoverable when the bank would initiate cases under the recently-amended law.

In the written reply, it was contended that the names of persons, who obtained loans from the National Bank, was a private information of borrowers and was protected under Section 33-A of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962 and Section 9 of Protection of Economic Reforms Act 1992 etc, which stipulate that no bank or financial institution shall divulge any information relating to the affairs of its customers and secrecy of bonafide banking transaction shall be strictly observed.

However, senators Tanvir, Nauman Wazir, Azam Swati of the PTI and Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni of BNP-Mengal questioned why the identity of the ‘beneficiaries’ of the loans was not shared with the House and asked were banking laws more sacrosanct than the Parliament. The senators decried giving massive loans and then there was no hint of recovery of these loans obtained from the state-owned bank.

Zahid Hamid to a volley of supplementary questions said that excessive borrowing was the story of the past and added that the estimated amount of domestic debts to be obtained by the government during 2016-2017 was Rs1,589.9 billion. Likewise, he explained the estimated amount of foreign debt to be obtained in the next two financial years was expected to be $9,743.63 million while repayment of debt would be $8159 million.

The House was also informed that the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had passed complaints against 152, banks, newspapers, cellular companies, cement factories and car manufacturers. 

A question by Senator Ahmad Hassan of the PPP was deferred, as he was chairing the sitting. However, the written information shared with the Senate revealed that under the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, during financial year of 2015-2016, a total Rs5.122 billion were disbursed among as many as 80 NGOs. 

About the NGOs working in militancy-devastated Malakand division, the Senate was told that funding was extended for water and infrastructure, health and education.

Minister for Industries Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi conceded that he was not satisfied with the process of induction of board of directors of the Utility Stores Corporation and the related rules needed to be amended. He also assured the House that in future Fata would not be overlooked in appointment of board of directors in the corporation.