ISLAMABAD: A newly proposed media regulator will be able to impose fines of up to Rs250 million, or roughly $1.5 million, on Pakistani media outlets that violate rules, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in comments broadcast on Monday.
The proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority Ordinance, 2021 — which will oversee films and monitor electronic, print and digital media, including Web TV, over-the-top content platforms and news websites — has rattled journalists and rights advocates who fear it could be used to stifle dissent and free speech and institutionalize censorship.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) currently has the authority to impose a maximum fine of Rs1 million, an amount that was not large enough to deter media organizations from breaking rules, Hussain said in an interactive session with digital broadcasters.
“We are taking the fine to Rs250 million,” he said. “So, the maximum fine that can be imposed on any organization will be 250 million rupees.”
At present, Hussain said, there were seven laws to regulate media in Pakistan: “Social media was dealt by PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority), press by the Press Council, electronic media by PEMRA, labor regulations by ITNE (Implementation Tribunal for Newspapers Employees) ... newspaper registrations by ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation).”
But in order to implement the laws, they needed to be converged, the minister said.
“So, we are repealing all these laws and creating the Pakistan Media Development Authority,” Hussain said. “We are dissolving PEMRA, ITNE, Press Council as well as the censor boards.”
The censor boards, he said, would be replaced by a central board of film censors.
Hussain said the government hadn’t included the provision of imprisonment in the new proposed law. “The only action that authority can take is to impose fines.”
The government was also creating a Media Complaints Commission and a Media Tribunal: “An individual can lodge a complaint with the Media Complaints Commission and the commission will be bound to announce its verdict in 21 days. The verdict could be appealed in a Media Tribunal.”
The minister said the commission would have four members each from the government and media bodies, who would work under a chairman.
He said media “tycoons” did not want the government to create a media tribunal because it would also entertain the complaints of their employees.
“But we are bent upon creating it because otherwise this is an owner-centric media,” Hussain said.
He also criticized PEMRA for its lack of investment in media development in the country, despite being a rich state organization.
Under the new law, Hussain said, a development wing for the capacity-building of journalists would be created.
Media bodies have criticized the government’s proposal.
In a joint statement issued this month, the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) rejected the proposed PMDA, calling it a “draconian” law and describing it as “an attempt to tighten the federal government’s control over the media.”
Proposed new regulator could impose fine of $1.5 million on Pakistani media — information minister
https://arab.news/bcawh
Proposed new regulator could impose fine of $1.5 million on Pakistani media — information minister
- Says government will set up Pakistan Media Development Authority Ordinance, dissolve existing regulators and censor boards
- Proposal has rattled journalists and rights advocates who fear it could be used to stifle dissent, institutionalize censorship
Pakistan secures $1.2 billion as IMF clears reviews, flags gains on stability and reforms
- IMF praises Pakistan’s policy implementation despite challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks
- The Executive Board urges faster energy, SOE and governance reforms for macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Pakistan’s second review under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), said a statement on Tuesday, unlocking about $1.2 billion in new financing while praising the country’s progress in stabilizing the economy despite recent floods.
The decision taken by the IMF Executive Board allows Islamabad to draw $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both arrangements to about $3.3 billion. The Fund said Pakistan’s policy implementation had improved financing conditions, strengthened reserves and preserved stability even as the country faced a challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks.
Under the 37-month EFF, approved last year in September, the IMF noted strong fiscal performance, including a primary surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a rebound in gross reserves to $14.5 billion by end-FY25 from $9.4 billion a year earlier and progress on rebuilding confidence. It noted a surge in inflation due to flood-related food price spikes but said it was expected to ease.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said. “Real GDP growth has accelerated, inflation expectations have remained anchored, and fiscal and external imbalances have continued to moderate.”
Clarke said Islamabad’s commitment to meeting its FY26 primary balance target while also addressing urgent post-flood relief signaled strong fiscal intent. He urged continued tax policy simplification and base broadening to build space for climate resilience, social protection and public investment.
The IMF official maintained a tight monetary stance should be continued to keep inflation within the State Bank Pakistan’s target range, while allowing exchange-rate flexibility and deepening the interbank market.
Additionally, he said financial regulation enforcement and capital market development were essential for a resilient financial sector.
The IMF also flagged energy sector reforms as “critical to safeguarding viability,” noting that timely tariff adjustments had helped curb circular debt but that Pakistan must now focus on reducing electricity production and distribution costs and addressing operational inefficiencies in both the power and gas sectors.
The statement also welcomed the publication of Pakistan’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic report, a detailed IMF-supported assessment that maps out where government systems are vulnerable to inefficiency or misuse and recommends reforms to improve transparency, accountability and service delivery.
Further priorities include the privatization of state-owned enterprises and strengthening economic data quality.
Clarke said reducing Pakistan’s climate vulnerability was vital for long-term stability, referring to the RSF, a financing tool that provides long-term, low-cost loans to help countries address climate risks.
“The RSF arrangement is supporting efforts to strengthen natural disaster response and financing coordination, improve the use of scarce water resources, raise climate considerations in project selection and budgeting, and improve the information on climate-related risks in financing decisions,” he said.
Pakistan faced a prolonged economic crisis in recent years before it began implementing stringent IMF-recommended reforms, which have driven a gradual improvement in macroeconomic indicators over the past two years.
The country also remains one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
It has endured a series of extreme weather events in recent years, most notably the 2022 super-floods that submerged one-third of the country, displaced millions and caused an estimated $30 billion in losses.
This year’s floods killed over 1,000 people and caused at least $2.9 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure, underscoring the scale of climate pressures facing the economy.
Economic experts told Arab News a day earlier that the Fund’s disbursements under the two loan programs would support the cash-strapped nation, which has relied heavily on financing from bilateral partners such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, as well as multilateral lenders.
“It obviously will help strengthen the external sector, the balance of payments,” said Samiullah Tariq, group head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company.
Another analyst, Shankar Talreja, head of research at Karachi-based Topline Securities, said the move was likely to send a positive signal to domestic and international investors about the government’s commitment to its reform agenda.
“This will help strengthen reserves and will eventually help a rating upgrade going forward,” he said.
