Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Wednesday that the nation wants to know the names of those businessmen who got three billion dollars in interest-free loans amid the pandemic during the previous regime. He said that keeping the names of those who took interest-free three billion-dollar loans secret by various institutions shows that there is something wrong with the whole drama.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that the secrecy shrouding the whole matter and the efforts of different banks to keep the names of recipients hidden is suspicious and an insult to the masses and the taxpayers.

He said that during the previous regime, 620 people were given interest-free loans worth three billion dollars in the name of helping the business community during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Their names are being kept secret, and the masses are being denied the right to know about them, which clearly violates their fundamental rights.

He added that the public has the right to know who received this money and whether this investment was in the country’s interest or against it.

The business leader said there is a need to hold accountable the politicians who took loans from foreign institutions and allowed them to be distributed among cronies while ignoring the plight of the public.

Shahid Rashid Butt said that the arguments by banks to keep the names of these people a secret are lame arguments that hold no water.

That money did not belong to the banks but to the masses; they had every right to know about it.

In other countries, such matters are kept transparent and public access to details is ensured, while here, everything is kept secret so that nepotism can thrive.

When action can be taken against those who benefited from fraud during the epidemic in Western countries, why can’t this happen in Pakistan, he questioned.

He lamented that the matter has come to light, but so far, no meaningful action has been taken against the offenders, which is regrettable.