The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Bank has waived loans of around Rs 363.848 million since 2008, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh told the Senate on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question asked by Senator Dr Muhammad Ismail Bulaidi, the finance minister told the Senate that the SME Bank had disbursed loans of Rs 1.671 billion against the mortgage guarantee of urban properties and Rs 192.356 million against rural properties since 2008. He added that Rs 1.453 billion were pending as an outstanding amount against urban properties, while over Rs 164 million against rural properties despite the bank writing off Rs 363.848 million so far.
In written reply to another question by Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Zahid Khan, regarding the income tax paid by Bahria Town during the last three years, the minister said the details of income tax could not be disclosed because it was not permitted by law. “Section 216 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, read with clause (xv) of Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, 1998, debars disclosure ‘in relation to any matter in respect of which there is a constitutional or statutory obligation not to disclose information’,” the minister said.
Answering another question, he told the Senate that the total expenses of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination during 2008-09 were around Rs 145 million, during 2009-10, Rs 192 million, and during 2010-11, Rs 458 million. On a question about vacant posts in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Sheikh said that five posts under BPS-21 and one under BPS-20 were vacant in the Pakistan Customs Services, adding that in the Inland Revenue Services of the FBR there were 28 posts of BPS-21, 33 posts of BPS-20, 13 posts of BPS-18, and 34 posts of BPS-17 were vacant. Moreover, the minister in charge of the Cabinet Division told the Senate that around 12,648 people were working in the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which included one officer in BPS-22, 10 officers in BPS-20, 80 officers in BPS-19, 178 officers in BPS-18, 375 officers in BPS-17, while the staff worked below BPS-17.