Hasnat Abdullah, a member of Parliament’s Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance and chief organizer of the National Citizen Party’s southern region, alleged that the committee is not functioning properly. Speaking to reporters after its second meeting in parliament on Sunday afternoon, August 23, he said several ruling-party members had treated it as a ceremonial committee.

He said the meeting discussed four major agenda items, including structural reform of the National Board of Revenue and the tax-to-GDP ratio. Although the finance minister and NBR officials took positive positions, Abdullah said non-cooperation from some ruling-party members prevented the committee from reaching decisions on any agenda item. He also alleged that the chief whip intervened unnecessarily in meetings despite not being the committee chair.

Abdullah said some ruling-party members had said they were unprepared at the committee’s first meeting, and the same situation appeared in the second meeting. He said proposals were made to reduce harassment of businesses, including a coordinated digital database linking ports, banks and the NBR. Other proposals covered expanding the tax net, increasing Kamalapur depot capacity and making revenue management more effective.