ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: The Ministry of Finance is paying Rs42 million every year to its 23 consultants posted in various sections and attached departments besides $3.9m (Rs234m) a month to a foreign consulting firm, and logistic facilities to five advisers.

Official documents available with Dawn reveal that this amount is in addition to other expenses on residence, utilities and official transport etc. Most of these consultants and advisers have been appointed on two to three years’ contracts while others on short-term basis.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the foreign consulting firm, is being paid $3.9 million under the Project for improvement in Financial Reporting and Auditing (PIFRA).

Dr Tariq Hasan, adviser to the finance minister, is paid Rs160,000 per month; Khalid Siraj, senior adviser for restructuring of banks and DFIs, is paid $4000 per month while M.A. Jabbar, coordinator of fiscal monitoring committee, is paid Rs60,000 per month.

Ms Zia Batool, Asad Aleem and Rashid Nadeem, consultants of economic advisory board, appointed by secretary-general of finance, are getting Rs60,000 per month each. Similarly, Dr Ehsanul Haq, consultant for study on anti-corruption strategy, was paid Rs4.875 million in four instalments for five months.

Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema, consultant for study on human resources management, was paid Rs4.415 million in four instalments for three months and Dr Anjum Nasim, consultant for study on business process and interface between tax administration and tax payers (income tax), was paid Rs4.507 million in four instalments for three months.

Dr Ali Cheema, consultant for study on business process (sales tax), was paid Rs4.766 million in four instalments in three months and Masood Aziz, consultant on business process (customs), was paid four million in four instalments in four months.

Sidat Hyder Murshed, consultant for study on information management, was paid Rs2.5 million in four instalments for four months while Syed Haroon Rashid, adviser, Investment Corporation of Pakistan, is being paid Rs57,150 per month.

Imran Inayat Butt, adviser, Investment Corporation of Pakistan, is getting Rs45,000 per month while Ashraf Awan, adviser, Regional Development Finance Corporation, is being paid Rs33,000 per month.

Similarly, Nasim Malik, adviser, Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP), was getting Rs75,000 per month while Saquib Mohyuddin, consultant, Small Business Finance Corporation (SBFC), is being paid Rs125,000 per month.

Ms Alyia Agha and Bakhtiar A. Sayyed, consultants, SBFC, are paid being Rs100,000 and Rs65,000 per month, respectively, and S. M. Masood and Co-chartered accountant/consultant of Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) is paid Rs75,000 per month as retainership.

Khurshed A. Khair, consultant, National Bank of Pakistan, has been appointed on Rs150,000 per month followed by Sultan Ahmad Khan and Communications Research Strategies, both consultants of NBP, are getting Rs125,000 and Rs150,000 per month.

Javed Ahmed Noel, Fateh M. Chaudhry, Saeed Ahmad Qureshi, Dr Pervaiz Hasan and Syed Shahid Hussain have been working as advisors on honorary basis and provided with only logistic facilities.