Islamabad: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended increasing the autonomy of key institutions for combating corruption in Pakistan—NAB, FIA and provincial anti-corruption establishments—and undertaking large-scale reforms in them.
According to the latest Governance and Corruption Report of the IMF, Pakistan will have to adopt a clear and uniform strategy to make the anti-corruption system effective. The report says that NAB should be made more administratively autonomous and the process of appointing its head should be brought under a more transparent and stable mechanism so that high-level corruption cases can be investigated without any pressure.
The report recommends that modern technology, digital forensic facilities and trained manpower be provided to NAB and provincial institutions to enhance the investigative capacity. At the same time, there is an emphasis on strengthening the internal accountability system in all institutions.
The IMF has advised that to increase the country’s transparency, the assets, powers and resources of senior government officials should be digitized under a new central authority, which includes the FBR, Parliament and the Establishment Division. In addition, it has been suggested to bring the exchange of information between NAB, FBR and the Auditor General into a regular framework to identify suspicious transactions.
