Money and banking drive economic activity by facilitating transactions, savings, and investments. Banks manage financial resources, offer credit, and regulate money supply, ensuring stability and growth in Pakistan’s financial sector.
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced bank holiday on October 30, 2020 on the occasion of Eid Milad-Un-Nabi.
A circular issued on Tuesday addressing the president / chief executives of all banks / Development Financial Institutions and Microfinance Banks that the SBP would remain closed on October 30, 2020 (Friday), the 12th Rabi-ul-Awal 1442 AH on the occasion of Eid Milad-Un-Nabi.
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee made another 14 paisas gain against dollar on Tuesday owing to improved inflows of workers’ remittances and export receipts.
The rupee ended Rs160.91 to the dollar from previous day’s close of Rs161.05 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that foreign exchange market remained positive due to higher foreign exchange reserves of the country and frequent inflows of workers’ remittances and export receipts.
They said that during the day the market witnessed demand for dollar however sufficient supply of the greenback helped the rupee to make gain.
The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $287 million to $19.302 billion by week ended October 16, 2020. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.015 billion by week ended October 09, 2020.
The official reserves of the central bank also increased by $269 million to $12.067 billion by week ended October 16, 2020 as compared with $11.798 billion a week ago. The SBP attributed the increase in official reserves to the government inflows.
The inflow of workers’ remittances has registered sharp increase of 31.2 percent after making fourth consecutive month of over $2 billion received in September 2020.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said that the remittances increased to $2.3 billion, 31.2 percent higher than the same month last year and 9 percent higher than in August 2020.
Workers’ remittances remained above $2 billion for the fourth consecutive month in September, the central bank said.
On a cumulative basis, remittances rose to a record $ 7.1 billion in first quarter of current fiscal year, 31.1 higher than the same period last year.
The level of remittances in September was slightly higher than SBP’s projections of $2 billion.
KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on Tuesday declared massive growth in after tax profit by 110 percent to Rs11 billion for quarter ended September 30, 2020.
According to financial result, the sharp increase in profitability may be attributed to significant rise in gain securities. The bank’s gain on securities increased to Rs3.59 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs250 million in the same quarter of the last year.
The net interest income of the bank increased by 71.58 percent to Rs31.4 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs18.3 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The total income of the bank jumped up by 58.86 percent percent to Rs40.78 billion for the quarter under review as compared with Rs25.67 billion in the same period of the last year.
Operating expenses of the bank increased to Rs15.45 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs13.43 billion in the same period of the last year, showing growth of 15.04 percent.
The NBP paid Rs7.67 billion as tax for the period under review as compared with Rs3.4 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last year, showing an increase of 126 percent.
KARACHI: In order to further streamline the process of remittance of disinvestment proceeds, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to further delegate the authority to banks of resident companies for remittance of disinvestment proceeds to non-resident investors, a statement said on Monday.
The SBP invited the attention of the Authorized Dealers (ADs) or banks is to the instructions contained in Para 7(vii), Chapter 20 of Foreign Exchange Manual in terms of which designated Authorized Dealer is allowed for remittance of disinvestment proceeds not exceeding the market value (in case of listed securities)/ break-up value (in case of unlisted securities) favoring the non-residents.
Accordingly, the above referred Para of Chapter-20 ibid has been replaced as follows:
“Subject to observance of the procedure outlined above, the companies issuing/registering transfer of shares in favour of non-residents on repatriation basis, may export the share certificates through the designated Authorized Dealer to the shareholders. The designated Authorized Dealer shall also allow remittances in respect of the following:-
(i) Dividend, net of applicable taxes, as permitted under Chapter 14.
(ii) Disinvestment proceeds, less brokerage / commission and taxes, as under:
A. For disinvestment proceeds not exceeding the market value (in case of listed securities)/ break-up value (in case of unlisted securities), the designated Authorized Dealer shall allow the remittance on submission and review of:
a) Name and address of the non-resident share holder.
b) Name and address of the company whose shares were sold by the non-resident beneficiary, indicating whether it is a listed or unlisted/private limited company and is covered under para 6 ibid. (This requirement may be waived by the Authorized Dealer in case of quoted shares).
c) Name, address and residential status of the buyer of the shares in question.
d) Copy of broker’s memo in case of quoted shares/break-up value certificate of a QCR rated practicing Chartered Accountant in case of unlisted shares.
e) Attested copy of executed Share Purchase Agreement (enforceable at law) between resident buyer and non-resident seller, showing rupee value of shares purchased.
f) Attested copy of latest audited financials of the company whose shares were being sold.
g) Duly filled/ signed M-Form for the rupee value of the remittance in favor of non-resident.
h) An undertaking from the buyer that the transaction is not between related parties. In case the transaction is between related parties, an undertaking that the same has been concluded at an arms-length basis.
i) Authorized Dealer will ensure due diligence of the transaction/ buyer from AML/ CFT perspective.
B. For disinvestment proceeds exceeding the market value (in case of listed securities)/ break-up value (in case of unlisted securities), the designated Authorized Dealer shall allow the remittance after satisfying itself about the genuineness of the transaction by reviewing the following additional documents:
a) Detailed justifications/ rationale/ basis of setting the transaction price per share, from the buyer, in original.
b) Attested copy of detailed valuation/ transaction due diligence by the buyer showing basis, methodology and key valuation metrics used for valuation of shares as per generally accepted best practices for valuation of shares.
c) In case the total remittance of disinvestment proceeds exceeds US Dollar 50 million (or equivalent in other currencies) during a span of six months, the applicant, in addition to above information/ documents, shall also submit an independent/ third party review of the buyer’s valuation, from QCR rated practicing chartered accountant as per the latest generally accepted valuation techniques/ methods for a particular type of industry in which resident company is operating. The review report should at least provide view on the appropriateness of the basis and methodology used in the valuation/ transaction due diligence. Further, the review report should also include local/ global comparable transactions and/or trading multiples of comparable publicly traded companies and key valuation metric(s) comparisons, if available.”
4. Authorized Dealers are advised to bring the above instructions to the knowledge of all their constituents for meticulous compliance.
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee appreciated by 32 paisas to the dollar on Monday owing to improved foreign exchange reserves of the country and better inflows.
The rupee ended at Rs161.05 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs161.37 in interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that improvement in foreign exchange reserves of the country and inflows under export receipts and workers’ remittances helped the rupee to make gain.
The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $287 million to $19.302 billion by week ended October 16, 2020. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $19.015 billion by week ended October 09, 2020.
The official reserves of the central bank also increased by $269 million to $12.067 billion by week ended October 16, 2020 as compared with $11.798 billion a week ago. The SBP attributed the increase in official reserves to the government inflows.
The inflow of workers’ remittances has registered sharp increase of 31.2 percent after making fourth consecutive month of over $2 billion received in September 2020.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said that the remittances increased to $2.3 billion, 31.2 percent higher than the same month last year and 9 percent higher than in August 2020.
Workers’ remittances remained above $2 billion for the fourth consecutive month in September, the central bank said.
On a cumulative basis, remittances rose to a record $ 7.1 billion in first quarter of current fiscal year, 31.1 higher than the same period last year.
The level of remittances in September was slightly higher than SBP’s projections of $2 billion.
KARACHI: High provisioning and write-offs of Rs5.45 billion has resulted in decline of after tax profit declared by United Bank Limited (UBL)
UBL submitted its financial results to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday and declared 4.11 percent decline in after tax profit to Rs4.66 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with the profit of Rs4.86 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last year.
Major reason in decline of profit may be attributed to higher amount of provisioning and write-offs.
The provisioning and write-offs were at Rs5.45 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs1.99 billion in the corresponding quarter of the last year.
Net mark up / interest income of the bank increased to Rs19.09 billion for the quarter under review as compared with Rs15.42 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
Total income of the bank surged to Rs23.19 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs20.5 billion in the same period of the last year.
Expenses of the bank were flat at Rs10.09 billion as compared with Rs10.2 billion in the same period of the last year.
The bank paid tax to the tune of Rs2.97 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs3.44 billion in the same period of the last year.
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained 45 paisas against the dollar on Friday owing to substantial inflows of export receipts and workers’ remittances.
The rupee ended Rs161.37 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs161.82 in interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that the inflows under export receipts and workers’ remittances helped the rupee to make gain.
The frequent decline in dollar value brings the foreign currency to five-month low. Last time the dollar was seen at Rs161.98 on May 28, 2020.
The local unit gained Rs7.06 since its record low of Rs168.43.
The experts said that the ease in dollar value to help in reducing pressure on debt burden by almost Rs760 billion.
ISLAMABAD: The Banking Mohtasib (Ombudsman) has provided a relief to a person, who lost money through credit card transactions that were made fraudulently by a bank official.
(more…)KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday issued procedure for Islamic mode of investments in Naya Pakistan Certificates (NPCs). The SBP said that the government had established a wholly-owned special purpose vehicle, namely Islamic NPC Company Limited (INPCCL), which shall be managed under the mandate of its Board of Directors. INPCCL shall be issuing INPCs denominated in USD and PKR to the agent banks and investors.
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ISLAMABAD: The Banking Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Pakistan has received 14,587 complaints against banks for the year ended December 31, 2019.
The annual report of Banking Mohtasib Pakistan revealed the number of complaints against each bank in the following table:
| S. No. | Bank | Total |
| 01 | Albaraka Bank (Pakistan) Limited | 56 |
| 02 | Allied Bank Limited | 586 |
| 03 | Askari Bank Limited | 227 |
| 04 | Bank Al Habib Limited | 118 |
| 05 | Bank Alfalah Limited | 764 |
| 06 | Bank Islami Pakistan Limited | 110 |
| 07 | Citibank | 3 |
| 08 | Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited | 101 |
| 09 | Faysal Bank Limited | 477 |
| 10 | First Women Bank Limited | 12 |
| 11 | Habib Bank Limited | 2511 |
| 12 | Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited | 68 |
| 13 | JS Bank Limited | 262 |
| 14 | MCB Bank Limited | 880 |
| 15 | Meezan Bank Limited | 319 |
| 16 | National Bank of Pakistan | 825 |
| 17 | Samba Bank Limited | 8 |
| 18 | Silk Bank Limited | 586 |
| 19 | Sindh Bank | 32 |
| 20 | SME Bank Limited | 5 |
| 21 | Soneri Bank Limited | 75 |
| 22 | Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited | 267 |
| 23 | Summit Bank Limited | 60 |
| 24 | The Bank of Khyber | 20 |
| 25 | The Bank of Punjab | 267 |
| 26 | The Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited | 24 |
| 27 | United Bank Limited | 1587 |
| 28 | Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited | 94 |
| 29 | Institutions other than banks | 313 |
| 30 | Complaints received through Prime Minister’s Portal | 3930 |
Relief claimed amounting to Rs 260,985,799/- has been granted to the complainants.
In the year under review, a total number of 1422 formal complaints were resolved against which 160 Representations were made to the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
During the year ending December 31, 2019, one Review Petition was filed and the same was allowed.
The highest number of complaints received from the province of Punjab i.e. 10,074 followed by Sindh 3,094, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 1,055, Balochistan 131, Azad Kashmir 212, Gilgit Baltistan 21.