muhammadhafeezmalik
SENIOR MEMBER
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Although that I understand everyone posting here, and on these forums, as they are doing exactly what PML supporters were doing in the previous Government, PPP supporters were doing in the Government before that and MQM supporters have been doing routinely. Blind followers of political parties, blind followers of personalities, blind followers of establishment.....basically all round blind followers.
However, how can anyone, be it PPP supporter, PML supporter, evergreen MQM supporter or even the extreme of the cases, a PTI supporter, ever justify giving someone, anyone, total and absolute immunity from accountability? Are we introducing a Kingdom or a King of the Central Bank including Knights of the round table (Executive Directors) who will wield absolute authority without the threat of accountability by NAB, FIA or any parliamentary body etc.?
How will this benefit Pakistan in anyway at all? How is immunity beneficial for Pakistan? Why shouldn't there be an accountability of the performance of the Central Bank and even criminal conviction, where needed? And even before anybody thinks of justifying, all committee powers reside with the chairman of the board who again is the Governor, so would any Governor allow investigations against himself or any partner in crime? Furthermore, the Governor and his deputies would serve a full 5 year tenure without hinderance or removal, even if they nip the economy into the ground. How does this serve our interests?
There is still some in Pakistan's system, we can end anyone's AUTONOMY through his/her ANATOMY.
In 1995, Mugabe as president granted independence to the central bank of Zimbabwe. However, inflation jumped from 20 percent in 1995 to 230 million percent in 2008 – obviously, Zimbabwe’ central bank (CB), despite its independence, rather than focusing upon price stability was yielding to the demands of the government. Speculating upon the reasons for such behaviour, Acemoglu and Robinson, write in ‘Why Nations Fail’, “the governor of Zimbabwe’s CB probably knew how his counterpart in Sierra Leone had ‘fallen’ from the top floor of the CB building when he disagreed with (the Prime Minister) Siaka Stevens. Independent or not, complying with the president’s demands was the prudent choice for his personal health, even if not for the health of the economy”.
The SBP independence as envisaged is certainly not something to go far. However, given the political economy of international aid and our present standing, if we must embrace the proposed SBP Act in its present form, then the heavens would not fall. Laws are not cast in stone – after all, the infamous 58 2(b) is history.
Idrees Khawaja