Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an inquiry into alleged misuse of authority by senior officials of key regulatory bodies, following complaints that top management at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) approved salary hikes and other benefits without government consent.
According to a news report, the probe, aimed at improving oversight and transparency, will also assess the legal validity of such decisions and review administrative practices across major economic regulators.
The prime minister has formed a seven-member committee to investigate the salary and allowance hikes of SECP commissioners and to review delays in employee payments at Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan.
The committee will be led by the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs and include Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, secretaries of the finance, cabinet, and information divisions, the director general of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, and an additional secretary from the information division.
The panel has been tasked with evaluating the legality and propriety of SECP’s salary decisions and recommending reforms to strengthen transparency and accountability across regulatory bodies.
It will also examine delayed salaries and pensions at PTV and Radio Pakistan, along with the financial sustainability of state media organisations. The committee has two weeks to submit its report to the prime minister.
Lawmakers in recent parliamentary sessions have criticised “conflict of interest” provisions in laws governing the SECP and SBP, which allow their boards to determine salaries of their own senior officials without government approval. The debate intensified after reports of SECP commissioners receiving Rs381 million in benefits and NEPRA’s independent pay revisions for its chairperson and members.
