ISLAMABAD, March 8: The State Bank of Pakistan has placed 105 businessmen, politicians and top bureaucrats on a blacklist and stopped them from obtaining any bank loan for the next 10 years.

In a letter, the central bank has restricted heads of all the banks and financial institutions from advancing any loan facility to 50 businessmen, 40 bureaucrats and 15 politicians because of their previous record of default.

This is despite the fact that all of them have settled their dues either through plea-bargain with the National Accountability Bureau, or availed themselves of concessional repayment packages of the banks or returned their defaulted amounts in full. Few of them have been convicted by the courts.

The list, which is being kept by the bankers as a guarded secret, does not contain names of big politicians and businessmen who had returned money to the banks or to the government and their cases and confessions had been telecast on national television channels.

The list contains names of 50 businessmen of known background, including 28 from Sindh, 13 from Punjab and Islamabad, four from the NWFP and five from Balochistan. Most of them operate in sectors like oil, gas, coal, steel, construction, pharmaceuticals, finance companies, tobacco companies, wine dealers and trading companies.

It also listed names of top 40 bureaucrats of the federal government, CBR, various corporations, provincial departments and even doctors. Eighteen of them belong to the NWFP, 12 to Balochistan, and remaining 10 from Sindh and Punjab.

Of the total 15 politicians blacklisted by the central bank, six hail from Punjab, five from Balochistan and two each from the NWFP and Sindh. Nine of them are former federal or provincial ministers while others are former parliamentarians, including a chief minister.

Of late, various banks have been opposing arrests and investigations against businessmen by the investigation and accountability agencies as they viewed this detrimental to the investor confidence and banks’ secrecy.

Sources in the banking sector said, they might be advising some of their clients to challenge the central bank circular because no set criteria has been followed for depriving them of future loan facilities.

Total non-performing loans at present amount to around Rs282 billion, including a bad loan of Rs163 billion. A committee was later constituted to clear names of businessmen for investigations by the NAB.