Govt owned banks waived loans worth Rs10 billion

ISLAMABAD: According to official statistics, it has been disclosed that government banks have waived a total of 65 billion rupees in loans over the past 32 years. This includes 3,300 account holders, among whom are the country’s top 100 personalities, who have had their loans forgiven. National Bank, Zarai Taraqiati Bank and Bank of Punjab have accounted for the highest number of loan waivers.

According to official records, beneficiaries of government loan forgiveness encompass politicians, traders, flour mill proprietors, private enterprises, and numerous affluent individuals. In the last five years alone, the National Bank has pardoned loans amounting to Rs2 billion for hundreds of borrowers, contributing to a total loan waiver of Rs38 billion over the past 32 years.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank has forgiven loans worth Rs11 billion for more than a thousand individuals over the past 32 years, while Punjab Bank has forgiven loans for nine hundred borrowers, and over the past five years, the Bank of Punjab has forgiven Rs6 billion worth of loans for more than eight hundred borrowers.

Similarly, Khyber Bank has forgiven loans worth Rs1.6 billion for 95 individuals since 2010, while the bank has forgiven 300 million rupees’ worth of loans for over a hundred borrowers in the past five years. However, no loans have been forgiven by Sindh Bank and First Women Bank.

According to documents, government banks waived loans worth 21 billion rupees during the tenure of the late former President Pervez Musharraf, while loans worth Rs16 billion were forgiven during the three terms of the PML-N. Similarly, loans worth Rs14 billion were forgiven during the three terms of the Pakistan Peoples Party, while government banks waived loans worth Rs7 billion during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

According to documents, among the five hundred borrowers who have had loans forgiven, there are politicians, retired generals, traders, industrialists, and farmers.

Regarding this matter, the State Bank of Pakistan has said in its statement that banks are free to forgive their business and bad loans, and the central bank allows freedom to all private and government banks to conduct their business. The central bank monitors compliance with monetary policy and banking laws by all banks.