According to news reports, at least $200 billion has been stashed in Swiss banks allegedly by insincere politicians, tax evaders and corrupt bureaucrats, but the government has so far failed to bring it back to Pakistan. Switzerland, which was once a hub of black money deposited by criminals from all over the world, changed its 300 years banking secrecy rules a few years ago, paving the way for countries to recover their stolen assets. At a time the governments are struggling to get their money back, the Pakistani government has not made any request to the Swiss authorities even for exchange of information. The leadership of the present government had promised the nation that it would do its best to recover the money, but the issue is apparently not in its priority list. The political will is also missing in the government to do anything good in the national interest.
The hope of the nation on the current breed of politicians is dwindling as no concrete step has been taken to bring back the looted money and black sheep in the government are also buying time to shift the money from Switzerland to some other destination. It is no denying the fact that the government agencies know every detail of the deposits in the Swiss banks, but their wings are clipped by the influential criminals and the sincere officials have no other option but to hush up the matter. Pakistan is still a member of the club of the most corrupt countries whereas corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, and tax evaders are continuing transactions of black money to foreign banks. The government fulfills the cash requirements of the country by taking loans, pushing the nation into further chaos.
The nation wants transparency and discipline in every financial matter whether it is the case of development projects, utilization of foreign loans or tax collections. Selective accountability is in no way in the national interest as it will speed up the process of capital flight. The economic situation of the country is increasingly becoming fragile and only panacea to the problems is to give level playing field to the corrupt elements by allowing them to invest their black money within the country. Otherwise, the black money will continue to drain off the country. Through a judicial order, the federal government had been directed to disclose the names of Pakistanis who are account holders in Swiss banks and to take steps to get the money back.However, it is yet to be seen how the government complies with this order.
