Pakistan is reconsidering its commitment to fully disclose the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Country Review Report, six months after pledging transparency to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The Express Tribune reported.Â
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a committee, led by the law minister, to evaluate whether the report should be published in full or limited to its executive summary.
The decision comes ahead of the IMF’s ongoing review, where the lender is expected to seek an update on Pakistan’s commitments, including the publication of the report. The nine-member IMF mission, currently in talks with Pakistani authorities for the release of a $1.1 billion tranche under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, is set to conclude its discussions on March 13.
As per the report, Pakistan ratified UNCAC in 2007 and has undergone two review cycles under the convention. While the country has the discretion to decide the extent of the report’s publication, it had assured the IMF in September last year that it would release the complete findings upon completion of the review. The commitment was outlined in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, which also led to an IMF-led Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment mission visiting Pakistan last month.
The review committee, comprising federal ministers, senior bureaucrats, and a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) official, is expected to finalise its recommendation before the IMF review concludes. The cabinet has tasked the committee with analyzing Pakistan’s anti-corruption assessment, conducted by Nigeria and Qatar, and exploring options regarding its publication.
The UN review report, prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), spans between 80 to 300 pages, with an executive summary condensed to 7-12 pages. The report focuses on preventive measures and asset recovery, highlighting areas such as overlapping functions of NAB and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), regulatory improvements, and transparency measures.
While Pakistan has already implemented some recommendations, including improving inter-agency coordination and refining regulatory frameworks, the IMF has urged further reforms. It has called for legal amendments requiring civil servants in BPS-17 to BPS-22 and their spouses to declare their assets, a measure initially suggested by an anti-corruption task force.Â
Additionally, the task force proposed extending asset declaration requirements to non-elected advisers and special assistants to the prime minister.
The task force had also recommended amendments to NAB and FIA laws to define their mandates clearly, establish joint jurisdiction lists, and enhance coordination. Other proposals include training for investigative officers on jurisdictional boundaries, reassigning FIA officers from airport immigration duties, and launching a public awareness campaign on citizens’ rights under the Right to Information Act.
Despite these ongoing reforms, the government’s reconsideration of its transparency pledge raises concerns about the final outcome of the UNCAC report’s disclosure. The committee’s decision will be critical as Pakistan navigates its commitments under both the UNCAC and the IMF programme.
