SBP grilled over money laundered via solar panels

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday regretted that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had shared insufficient information on over Rs70bn established trade-based money laundering through the import of solar panels and ordered immediate payment to teachers their salaries pending since the start of the current fiscal year. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, who presided over the meeting, lamented that it was the third meeting of the panel on the subject but the latest report on money laundering through solar panel imports did not offer anything new or progress. Other senators were of a similar opinion and wondered why the SBP was not forthcoming with full information when the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had established money laundering through duty-free imports of solar panels. A representative of the SBP told the committee that banks involved in the case had been identified and fines had been imposed on them.