IMF Asks Pakistan To Remove Finance Secretary From Country's Central Bank's Board

The IMF has asked Pakistan to remove the finance secretary from the central bank's board and also recommended amending another law to revoke the federal government's authority to order inspections of commercial banks, a media report said on Tuesday.

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The global lender has further asked Islamabad to immediately fill two vacant positions of deputy governors at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended an amendment to the SBP Act to remove the finance secretary from the board of directors, The Express Tribune newspaper reported, quoting sources.

This would be the second attempt to exclude the federal secretary in the past three years, according to the paper.

The IMF's recommendations, part of the Governance and Corruption Diagnosis Mission report, appear aimed at completely ending federal government oversight, despite the government being the 100 per cent shareholder of the SBP, the paper said.

In 2022, under IMF pressure, the government gave absolute autonomy to the SBP and removed the finance secretary's voting rights on the board.