The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday demanded further actions from the Pakistani government to eliminate corruption in the country.
The IMF said that accurate data is not provided to NAB for investigating corruption and demanded that transparency be ensured within public institutions in Pakistan.
In a report regarding the conditions tied to the new $7 billion loan program provided to Pakistan, the IMF highlighted issues of public mismanagement and called for an end to political harassment in corruption cases.
The IMF urged the government to take steps to make the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) more independent and effective, in line with a Supreme Court ruling.
Pakistan is required to improve its investigative system to combat corruption and to prepare an action plan for its eradication by June 2025.
The report also called for a review report in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Corruption and for strengthening the legal capacity of public institutions involved in corruption cases.
The IMF emphasized the need for easier access to asset information of all government officials, to prevent illicit accumulation of assets, and to make asset and income declarations of officials public.
The report stated that legislation should be enacted by February to publicly disclose the assets of government officials and members of parliament, and that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should be digitized to facilitate this process.
