Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar claims ISI, IB still using 'secret funds'

Islamabad: Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are the only two departments still using secret service funds.

He made this statement at the National Assembly on Saturday while responding to lawmakers' concerns over the grants and expenditures that were laid before the house, reports Dawn.

Dar said that 34 departments were using secret funds when his party took over in 2013.

"On Jun 11, 2013, four days after the cabinet took the oath, we abolished the secret service funds of 32 organisations. Only ISI and IB still retain theirs, and a proper mechanism is in place for their audit", he added.

Earlier, the Jamaat-i-Islami's Sher Akbar Khan took issue with the government's incessant borrowing and stressed the need to devise policies that would help reduce the country's external debt.

Pakistan Peoples Party's Shazia Marri also criticised the amount of interest piling up on Pakistan's debt.