ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday regretted the lack of government effort in curtailing the flow of capital from the country and hinted at imposing ban on opening of foreign bank accounts.
“Can we ban the opening of foreign accounts,” Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar questioned during the hearing of a suomotu case pertaining to money stashed in Swiss accounts owned by Pakistani nationals. The CJP asked the federal government to assess whether the court could issue such orders or not.
“If the money is continued to be sent abroad without any justification, it will be disastrous for the country’s economy,” the CJP observed. Nothing is known so far of the Pakistanis named in the Panama and Paradise leaks, he remarked. The government could have enacted an ordinance to stem the flow of capital, he observed.
A senior official of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) informed the court that an amnesty scheme will be offered in the current month for Pakistanis to declare their foreign assets. On February 1, the Supreme Court had taken suomotu notice of funds deposited in foreign bank accounts and foreign assets held by Pakistani citizens and issued notices to the FBR, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to submit a comprehensive report within two weeks regarding the money lying in Swiss accounts.
The CJP had remarked that many Pakistanis in positions of power held accounts in foreign banks and had been looting the country’s money and transferring that abroad through illegal channels. He had observed further that the money looted and deposited in overseas bank accounts was a national asset and needed to be brought back to Pakistan.
Published in Daily Times, March 15th 2018.
