The meeting was chaired by Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali. The lack of interest of the committee's members towards this crucial issue was evident from the fact that only three members of the 10-member committee namely MNAs Zafar Baig, Asiya Nisar and Abdul Rashid Godil attended the meeting.
Zafar Baig recommended that, "There should be a separate committee in the parliament house, consisting of all the stakeholders along with the representatives of all political parties. Before requesting for any foreign loan, the finance division should put the request before that committee dictating why this loan is essential from the economic point of view and for which project the amount under this loan would be utilised. Also what would be interest rate on that foreign loan?"
Iftikhar Ahmed Rao, Additional Secretary EAD, said that before signing any foreign loan, cabinet members were taken into confidence and they assess the need for which the loan is requested from any bilateral or multilateral donor. Asiya Nisar said, "Foreign loans should be requested after consultation with the members of National Assembly while there should be proper usage of funds on each and every project for which the loan is sought".
To a question of the Chairperson, Masroor Ahmed said, "It is right that after 18th Constitutional Amendment, the provinces are greatly autonomous and they can take loan from any foreign donor for their project but only after the approval of Council of Common Interest (CCI)". "The provinces will have to abide by the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Act (FRDA) as according to this act, the debt limit can not be more than 60 percent of GDP. The provincial annual plan having complete details of their projects and their financial needs would be approved in CCI. It is true that the provinces are autonomous and they can decide whether to go for a foreign loan or not under their own capacities," Masroor Ahmed said.
The participants noted that under NFC award it was decided to bring tax to GDP ratio to a certain level till 2015, but nothing is being done in this regard so far. Zafar Baig said that before announcing the federal budget, the government should hold a pre-budget session with all political parties and the participation of MNAs from FATA should be ensured as it is the most deprived area of Pakistan. Abdul Rashid Godil said that according to Election Commission Act, those who have waived off their loans worth Rs 2 million or more than that were not eligible to contest upcoming elections.