ISLAMABAD: The lawmakers on Thursday expressed concern over problems being faced by the common people because of an ongoing tussle in the state-run insurance company and criticised the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for seeking approval of half-cooked development projects without setting priorities right.

Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, Faiz Ulla, presided over the meeting of the panel and took up the matter of an ongoing strike by a cadre of field staff of State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) for more than a month. He said he wanted to visit the company’s office in Faisalabad but could not because of the strike.

He expressed concern over the problems being faced by public owing to the abolition of SLIC’s fourth tier and wanted the chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to look into the matter.

SECP Chairman Farrukh H Sabzwari told the committee that not only SLIC but the entire insurance sector had been ignored in the country in the past despite its huge potential.

He said there was a need to focus on the sector to bring it on a par with global peers for which a lot of reforms were required including aggressive training of insurance agents — main workforce in the field. He said regulator recently had major executive appointments and would now focus in the area.

He further suggested that SLIC be invited by the committee to deliberate on the issue.

On recommendation of members, the committee decided to call the SLIC management and other stakeholders to the next meeting for an indepth and view of the situation.

The member of the committee recorded their displeasure over lack or priority in the federal board of Revenue regarding proposed projects in the Public Sector Development Programme for the next fiscal year.

Member Administration of FBR gave a briefing about the ongoing and new Public Sector Development Programme projects of FBR. However, Faiz observed that the board did not have a sense of priority about its projects and allocations were being demanded for even those which are not yet taken to the Central Development Working Party or Executive Committee of the National Economic Council and being presented to the standing committee for approval.

Members expressed displeasure over the slow progress on establishment of custom offices at Torkham and Chaman borders which were vital for Integrated Transit Trade Management System (ITTMS). They said Pakistan had been facing significant revenue losses due to smuggling and early completion of custom offices at Torkham and Chaman was critical to discourage smuggling and mobilise revenue.

Syed Naveed Qamar said the establishment of these two offices was central to regional trade. The committee, therefore, recommended to the Ministry of Finance to ensure funds allocated for ITTMS be released in full for their early completion.

The FBR officials informed the committee that a project was being proposed for inclusion in next year development programme for construction of 17 offices in different areas including the custom collectorate office at Hyderabad. The members also expressed dissatisfaction over the presentation of the FBR and directed that revised list of prioritised projects should be submitted to the committee.

The committee noted that some remaining ongoing PSDP projects of the Finance Division fell in the jurisdiction of provinces and recommended for further necessary action as required under Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.

Sabzwari briefed the panel about the mandate of the commission including the regulation of corporate sector, capital markets, supervision and regulations of insurance companies, non-banking finance companies and private schemes.

He also told the committee that a total of 96,288 companies were currently registered in corporate sector including the public listed, private, non-profit associations, trade organisations, foreign companies and limited liability partnerships.

The committee also briefly discussed the implementation regarding anti-money laundering and terror financing standards of the Financial Action Task Force within the SECP’s regulated financial sector. Hence, it decided to also call to the next meeting the financial monitoring unit to have a view of international assessment and peer reviews by the Asia Pacific Group, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The Committee unanimously decided to hold its next meetings in Karachi, most probably on March 12 and 13.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2019