NAB chairman rejects business community’s allegations as unjustified

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has said the allegations levelled by traders on the accountability watchdog were unjustified.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Iqbal said NAB will never take unfriendly steps against businessmen. “We are struggling to provide a good environment for the businessmen in the country.”

“NAB does not formulate business policies,” he said. “NAB took measures for the betterment of the business community.”

The accountability watchdog chief further said he demanded arbitrary authority and that NAB has been working independently within the law.

“We are being watched by some as an institution that is solely responsible for the current economic crisis in the country,” Iqbal said. “We have our boundaries and we try to work within them."

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Speaking about the business community who termed some of the NAB policies as unreasonable, the chairman said the allegations levelled by traders on the accountability watchdog were unjustified. “The allegations of some of the traders were unreasonable and I reject them,” he said.

“We are trying to provide a better environment to work in where they (businessmen) do not have to worry about anything,” the chairman said. “Traders also expressed reservations over NAB during their meeting with the Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.”

“NAB is an institution that is working tirelessly to make Pakistan a corruption-free country. It’s not our job to make business policies or try to meddle in the affairs of investors,” he said.

He added that NAB had no role in increasing or decreasing the dollar rate.

"All the issues of the traders would be solved 100 per cent," he added.