The Senate has approved the State Bank Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021, following a tiebreaker vote by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani amid absence of Leader of the Opposition Yousuf Raza Gilani and some other opposition members.
With the passage of the bill, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is one step closer to resuming the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF executive board is expected to take a decision on the disbursement to Pakistan of about $1 billion tranche on February 2.
The Senate session today was briefly postponed by the government when several treasury lawmakers, whose votes were necessary for the government to pass the bill, failed to appear at the Senate. Notably, the SBP Amendment Bill had not been added to the agenda until Friday morning.
During the one-hour delay, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said that the government should admit defeat rather than postpone the vote; the sentiment was echoed by Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-F (JUI-F) Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
Ultimately, the bill as presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin passed with 43 votes against it and 43 votes in favor, plus one vote from Sanjrani also in favour.
12 lawmakers were absent from the session, including eight members from the Opposition.
The opposition members who skipped the crucial session included Pakistan People's Party (PPP’) Senator Yousuf Raza Gillani who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Senate, Qasim Ranjho and Sikandar Mendro. Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami (PMA) party’s Shafiq Tareen and Naseema Ehsan were not present either.
Senator Rehman also issued a statement on Twitter and said that Bill stripped Pakistan of its 'own ability to make sovereign decisions in times of national crises.'
https://twitter.com/sherryrehman/status/1486911879951831041
At a previous house session earlier this month, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had forewarned of ‘economic slaughter’ due to the passage of the SBP Amendment Bill. He had warned that the bill would unleash a ‘tsunami of taxes’ which would overwhelmingly burden the ‘common man’.
With the passage of the bill, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is one step closer to resuming the sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF executive board is expected to take a decision on the disbursement to Pakistan of about $1 billion tranche on February 2.
The Senate session today was briefly postponed by the government when several treasury lawmakers, whose votes were necessary for the government to pass the bill, failed to appear at the Senate. Notably, the SBP Amendment Bill had not been added to the agenda until Friday morning.
During the one-hour delay, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman said that the government should admit defeat rather than postpone the vote; the sentiment was echoed by Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-F (JUI-F) Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.
Ultimately, the bill as presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin passed with 43 votes against it and 43 votes in favor, plus one vote from Sanjrani also in favour.
12 lawmakers were absent from the session, including eight members from the Opposition.
The opposition members who skipped the crucial session included Pakistan People's Party (PPP’) Senator Yousuf Raza Gillani who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Senate, Qasim Ranjho and Sikandar Mendro. Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami (PMA) party’s Shafiq Tareen and Naseema Ehsan were not present either.
Senator Rehman also issued a statement on Twitter and said that Bill stripped Pakistan of its 'own ability to make sovereign decisions in times of national crises.'
https://twitter.com/sherryrehman/status/1486911879951831041
At a previous house session earlier this month, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had forewarned of ‘economic slaughter’ due to the passage of the SBP Amendment Bill. He had warned that the bill would unleash a ‘tsunami of taxes’ which would overwhelmingly burden the ‘common man’.