The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has announced plans to approach parliament with a proposal to reduce the current Rs500 million threshold required to initiate action in corruption cases. Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmad Butt stated that the existing limit enables many individuals to carry out corrupt activities below the threshold, effectively evading prosecution. He emphasized that lowering this limit would strengthen NAB’s ability to hold offenders accountable and curb corruption across all levels of governance.
The Rs500 million threshold was introduced in 2022 after amendments made by the PML-N-led coalition government following the PTI government’s removal. These changes restricted NAB’s jurisdiction to corruption cases involving sums exceeding Rs500 million under the revised National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. However, Butt believes the high threshold has weakened the bureau’s reach and made it difficult to take timely action against smaller yet frequent instances of financial misconduct.
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During his first press conference since assuming office in March 2023, the NAB chairman presented a detailed performance review of the organization. He revealed that since its inception in 1999, NAB has recovered a total of $3.15 billion, while under his leadership alone, recoveries have reached an impressive $29.99 billion. These include Rs1,124 billion in cash recoveries, equivalent to roughly $4 billion, with the remainder recovered in assets. He said such achievements reflect NAB’s growing efficiency and commitment to restoring public trust.
Furthermore, Butt discussed NAB’s overall performance over the past 26 years, highlighting that the government has allocated Rs62 billion to the bureau during this period. In contrast, NAB’s total recoveries have exceeded Rs9 trillion — a figure he claimed no other anti-corruption agency in the world has matched. He noted that these recoveries demonstrate the bureau’s strong financial accountability framework and its vital role in Pakistan’s economic stability.
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Addressing the issue of money laundering, Butt expressed deep frustration over the transfer of Pakistan’s wealth abroad by corrupt individuals. He noted that many of these individuals invest in countries such as the United States, Canada, and those in Europe, where their assets often remain unchallenged. He also pointed out that despite having around 165,000 Pakistani students studying overseas, very few contribute to Pakistan’s tax system. Additionally, he lamented the bureaucratic delays NAB faces when seeking financial data from foreign authorities, sometimes waiting up to seven years to receive incomplete or withheld information, often protected under the guise of political sensitivity.