ISLAMABAD: At least 215,317 wealthy Pakistanis have availed five amnesty schemes during the past five years to whiten their black money which was parked abroad in offshore accounts.
Documents revealed that more people availed the amnesty scheme announced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government than the four amnesty schemes announced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
During the PML-N’s tenure, around 90,370 persons availed the amnesty schemes whereas around 123,587 persons have availed the amnesty scheme announced by the PTI in the past year alone.
As many as 7,575 people benefitted from VTCS announced in 2015 while 6,197 persons whitened their black money through the foreign assets declaration scheme announced in 2018. In addition to this, 76,958 persons benefited from the Voluntary Household Assets Declaration Act announced in 2018, whereas 124,587 people benefitted from the Assets Declaration Ordinance 2019.
It is worth mentioning that the incumbent government cannot announce any more amnesty schemes as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has barred them from doing so.
