Islamabad: - Taking serious notice of the alleged fraud of more than billion of rupees in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has tasked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor with investigating the matter and submitting a report within three days, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
Reportedly, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has unearthed one of the biggest scams in the history of NBP, and has also made several arrests in this connection.
The fraud was committed allegedly in connivance with the senior bank officials, the most prominent among whom is an assistant vice president of the bank.
The arrests were made after NBP lodged a complaint that an amount of Rs1.5 billion had been illegally drawn from one of the accounts of the Abandoned Properties Organisation (APO).
The finance minister, after taking a serious notice of the news, reported by the media, has assigned the SBP governor the duty to investigate the matter and also submit a report to the Finance Ministry within three days, so that the matter could be further probed in accordance with the rules.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Sunday chaired a meeting held to review the measures taken by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for increasing the direct collection of taxes.
In the meeting held at the Finance Division, FBR Chairman Nisar Mohammad Khan briefed the minister on different models adopted by the countries around the world to increase the direct collection of taxes.
The FBR chairman and his team showed to the minister different modes in vogue in the world to enhance revenue generation along with the necessary framework.
The minister directed the chairman to draw up a comprehensive plan in this connection that could be incorporated in the next Finance Bill.
He also asked him to take all possible measures, which could facilitate the voluntary tax payers/ filers.
The FBR will present their proposals in the next meeting which will be held soon.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Finance Division and the Federal Board of Revenue.
Dar asks SECP to further facilitate corporate sector:
Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Sunday urged the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to continue taking measures to facilitate the corporate
He was chairing a meeting held here at the Finance Division to review matters related to SECP.
The SECP chairman briefed the minister on the legislative and reform measures being taken by the government to regulate the corporate sector.
Dar emphasised that the reforms being introduced by the government were meant to facilitate the corporate sector in line with the international best practices.
He praised the SECP for playing a role in regulating the corporate sector, and in giving quality input towards policy formulation by the government to spur investment-led-growth.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.