ZULFIQAR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday left the government red-faced in the Senate after she claimed that domestic borrowing of the country has touched the alarming mark of over Rs16 trillion – a figure much bigger than the total annual budget of the country.

Speaking on a motion in the Senate, the PPP senator said that it is quite alarming that domestic borrowing has exceeded the total size of a country’s annual budget, which shows that the domestic debt has increased 71 percent in a short span of one year.

She came down hard on the government for its “flawed” repayment plan, saying in order to stop accountability, the government has changed the definition of domestic borrowing twice to keep the masses and its representatives in dark.

“No one can get any information about debt burden as the government is calling all the shots through Finance Act and it is their only instrument through which it is concealing all its blunders related to finance from us,” she lamented.

She continued that the total foreign reserves of the country stand at $12 billion, which is again shocking, adding the country is moving towards crisis of public finance, adding the inflation figures are being fudged by the government, and foreign reserves are going down by $250 million per day.

Senator Mohsin Aziz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seconded the PPP senator and said unless and until the debt borrowing limit is fixed at 60 percent, the incumbent government will leave behind a sinking economy which no successive government can revive.

“The debt both internal and external is increasing with each passing day and the sole intention of the ruling PML-N is to hand over the sinking boat of the economy,” he said, adding there is a need to put a tougher law in place so that debt must not exceed from a certain limit.

However, State Minister for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal stood his ground and said that it was the previous PPP regime that is responsible for the sharp increase in domestic debt as it was Rs1.8 trillion back in 2012-13 – the highest ever domestic debt.

Khan said that there had been no alarming situation in the country regarding domestic borrowing as all-out efforts are being made to control trade deficit. He said that there is a mechanism on debt management that limits domestic debt to certain percent of GDP, adding that the government has to tell the Parliament if the debt exceeds that set limit of 60 percent.

Khan said that domestic debt was higher in 2013 when the incumbent government came into power. He was of the view that it is an ideal situation when import and export figures match, adding Pakistan needs some time to reach an ideal position.

He said that borrowing deceased in the tenure of incumbent government while foreign reserves doubled as compared to what the government had inherited in 2013. He said that the economy is improving and efforts are underway to control inflation.

Senator Mohsin Aziz of PTI also moved a motion about non-issuance of CNICs to a large number of women which has resulted in non-registration of their names in the voters’ lists.

Aziz said that there are over 12 million women across the country who have no votes due to non-issuance of CNICs, adding some years back the number was 10 million but it has gone up to 12 million with a short span of few years due to negligence of the government.

He also criticized that so-called rights activists who take to the streets over trivial issues are maintaining mysterious silence on their part and it is quite shameful as they are not ready to highlight an issue which is purely related to women rights.

Blaming the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) for depriving women of their rights by creating problems in issuance of CNICs, he said that there is a need to tighten the noose around the top guys of the authority as it not something which can be ignored.

Senator Jamaldini of BNP-Mengal said that 67 percent women of Balochistan are yet to be registered to cast their votes, but despite tall claims no action is being taken to ensure registration of women.

Another Baloch Senator Sardar Musakhel said that no CNIC is made unless the palms of Nadra officials are greased. Another issue which is the major hindrance in issuance of CNICs to women is that there is no female staff with Nadra in Balochistan due to which women avoid to go through the process in all man-dominated environment.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Hafiz Hamdullah said that there has been sharp decline in marriages in Balochistan as people have stopped marrying off their daughter, thinking a man without a valid CNIC may turn out to be a foreign nation which could be risky.

About the unruly attitude of Nadra officials in facilitating people, he said that he would prefer to climb the mountains of Margalla at 2:00am midnight over going to Nadra officials as they have a become a liability and do nothing to facilitate the masses.

PML-N Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq jumped in to save the skin of Nadra and tried to defend the performance of the authority by citing an unauthentic survey published by an NGO, but it did not work and left her embarrassed after Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani remarked: “Good use of your internet.”

Senator Sherry Rehman warned if the issue of huge number of women who could not use their right to franchise is not resolved on war footing, the country will not be able to overcome the mammoth task of gender mainstreaming.

Winding up the debate, State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the government gives equal importance to all areas for registration of women, whether it is a backward area of Balochistan or the modern city of Islamabad.

He said that there is no truth in the claims that people of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA are facing any kind of discrimination as the number of registered women and men in these areas is much higher compared to that of Islamabad. In order to facilitate and encourage women to get their registration done, he said the government had dedicated Fridays for women registration and now it has also declared Saturdays as only women will be dealt during these two days a week.