Senate passes SBP bill amid Opposition protest ahead of IMF review
The upper house of the Parliament on Friday passed the controversial State Bank Pakistan SBP Bill 2021, amidst protests from the Opposition benches. On January 13, the National Assembly passed the SBP autonomy bill along with the supplementary finance bill. Both these bills were a requirement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme senate passes sbp bill amid . The approval of the State Bank amendment bill was necessary to ensure Pakistan’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFE) gets cleared by the IMF’s Executive Board. Which is scheduled to meet on February 2 to decide the disbursement of the $1-billion tranche. When Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin tabled a motion seeking permission to introduce the SBP bill, the opposition members objected to it. A motion was put forth to vote through division and was carried by 44 against 43 votes, marking the first blow to the opposition in the day. Read More: PSL Points Table 2022 The bill