Finance Minister Ishaq Dar inadvertently caused an uproar when he revealed that since the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PMLN) came to power in 2013, banks and other financial institutions have written off over PKR 20 billion in loans.

The figure was part of a written reply to a question posed by MNA Jamshed Dasti. This written reply was entered in the library of the House and law makers immediately flocked to scan it. Opposition lawmakers had a field day with the document, which stated that the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) alone had written off at elast PKR 371.4 million in loans.

Muttahdia Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s Dr. Farooq Sattar asked if the controversial PIA privatisation scheme had been rigged to recover the losses caused by waiving off aforementioned loans. Another MQM lawmaker alleged that influential people had been favored by banks, and that many used their relatives names to register their businesses and corporations.

Independent observers have noted that there may be some discrepancies in the document – which puts the total loans waived at PKR 70 billion – and have stated that the total figure can’t be more than PKR 20 billion. The Finance Ministry has yet to provide clarification on the matter.