Category: Money & Banking

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.

  • Rupee ends flat amid demand for import payments

    Rupee ends flat amid demand for import payments

    KARACHI: The rupee ended flat against dollar on Tuesday owing to demand from import and corporate buyers.

    The rupee ended Rs154.98 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs154.97 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency dealers said that the market witnessed demand from importers and corporate buyers for dollars. However, inflows offset the demand and the rupee depreciated by one paisa.

    The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs155.00 and Rs155.04. The market recorded day high of Rs155.00 and low of Rs154.95 and closed at Rs154.98.

    The exchange rate in open market witnessed appreciation of rupee by 10 paisas against dollar. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs154.50/Rs154.80 from previous day’s closing of Rs154.60/Rs154.90 in cash ready market.

  • Rupee gains 10 paisas on improved inflows

    Rupee gains 10 paisas on improved inflows

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee maintained gain against dollar and appreciated by 10 paisas on Monday owing to improved economic indicators.

    The rupee ended Rs154.97 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs155.07 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    The currency experts said that the rupee continued gain and reached to below Rs155 to the dollar after six months. They said that export receipts and inflows of home remittances remained helped the rupee to make gain.

    The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs154.95 and Rs155.05. The market recorded day high of Rs155.02 and low at Rs154.95 and closed at Rs154.97.

    The exchange rate in open market also witnessed appreciation of the rupee. The buying and selling of dollar Rs154.60/Rs154.90 as compared closing of last Friday’s Rs154.80/Rs155.10.

  • SBP announces incentives for banks to make remittance transactions attractive

    SBP announces incentives for banks to make remittance transactions attractive

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday made attractive the inflow of home remittances through formal channels and announced incentives for banks.

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  • Rupee gains for fourth consecutive day on improved inflows

    Rupee gains for fourth consecutive day on improved inflows

    KARACHI: The Pak Rupee made gain against dollar for the fourth consecutive day on Friday owing to improved inflows.

    The rupee ended Rs155.07 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs155.10 in interbank foreign exchange market.

    Currency experts said that the sentiments in the market were remained positive owing to news of inflows of 190 million UK Pounds and more expected from National Crime Agency of the UK.

    The foreign currency market was initiated in the range of Rs155.02 and Rs155.17. The market recorded day high of Rs155.08 and low of Rs155.06 and closed at Rs155.07.

    The rupee maintained a continuous gain after falling to Rs155.34 on December 02, 2019.

    The exchange rate in open market witnessed unchanged value in rupee. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs154.80/Rs155.10, the same previous day’s closing, in cash ready market.

  • SBP directs banks to prepare depositor-wise database

    SBP directs banks to prepare depositor-wise database

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday directed banks to prepared a comprehensive depositor-wise database/ Management Information System.

    A key element of the information system is its capacity to calculate, on any given date, total liability of a bank towards each of its depositors including any interest/ profit accrued on such deposits and generate a report referred as “Single Depositor View (SDV)”.

    This would enable Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) of the central bank to assess the amounts payable to protected depositors and making payout in case of a bank’s failure.

    In order to achieve banking industry-wide standardization of SDV report, a standard format of the report has been developed by the DPC.

    Furthermore, with a view to facilitate banks in understanding the fields of report and reporting requirements, a document titled “Explanatory Notes on Single Depositor View (SDV) Data” has also been prepared.

    The explanatory notes provide explanation of various terms used for SDV data compilation together with clarity on classification of depositors, and balance calculations for protected depositors.

    Considering the distinct nature of SDV concept, the banks have been accorded the extension in deadline for the development of information system/ database, as referred in para 10 of DPC Circular No. 01 of 2019, until January 31, 2020.

    In this regard, banks are advised to provide a progress report on development of their information system by December 31, 2019.

    Going forward, DPC shall assess the system’s readiness and efficacy through SBP-inspection teams or by its designated staff for the purpose.

    The member banks are also required to submit first such report of the position of depositors, as per formats as of December 31, 2019 by February 15, 2020 and then onwards on quarterly basis.

    DPC had issued Circular No. 01 of 2019 dated March 15, 2019 on ‘Information System for Protected Depositors of Member Banks’ where all member banks were required to appropriately install or update their systems including software(s)/ database(s) for maintaining a comprehensive depositor-wise database. Such a database is required to identify, on any given date, all accounts of any single depositor and calculate the total liability of a bank towards that depositor (including any interest/ profit accrued till the given date) referred as “Single Depositor View (SDV)”.

    The SBP said that at present, multiple core banking systems are available across banks with each bank relying on a specific system having its own data structure and alignment of different information fields.

    Therefore, it is felt necessary that instructions on development of aforesaid Information System should be supplemented with a standardized format having specific arrangement of data fields for compliance by banks to assess total liability of a bank towards a single depositor.

    In absence of such a format and prescribed data fields, there is a possibility that the banks would end up producing SDV data on different non-comparable formats.

    Hence, DPC has decided to issue a Standardized Report Format (SRF) to enable banks to compile SDV data as per requirements of reimbursement.

    The SRF contains 44 data fields relevant to information on eligible depositors of a bank and available at Annexure A. All banks are required to follow the taxonomy of SRF to maintain consistency in SDV data reporting across banks.

    The document also explains various terms used in SDV data compilation along with classification guidelines, reporting timelines, medium of reporting and examples on balance calculations.

  • Rupee makes gain for third consecutive day against dollar

    Rupee makes gain for third consecutive day against dollar

    The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar for the third consecutive day on Thursday, driven by improved foreign currency inflows in the form of export proceeds and workers’ remittances.

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  • Moody’s assigns stable outlook to top five Pakistani banks

    Moody’s assigns stable outlook to top five Pakistani banks

    KARACHI: Following the improved outlook of Pakistan economy, Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday affirmed the B3 long-term local currency deposit ratings of five top Pakistani banks and changed the outlook to stable from negative.

    The rating agency in a statement said that affected banks include Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd. (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd. (UBL).

    The rating actions follow Moody’s decision on 2 December to affirm the B3 rating for the Government of Pakistan and change the outlook on the sovereign rating to stable from negative.

    The banks’ rating actions reflect improvements in the operating environment in Pakistan and in the country’s sovereign credit profile, which affect the banks’ given (1) their high government exposures that link their credit profiles to that of the government; and (2) the expectation that the government’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate.

    The primary driver of Moody’s decision to change the five Pakistan banks’ outlooks to stable is the extensive interconnectedness between their balance sheets and sovereign credit risk, owing to the banks’ high exposures to government securities.

    According to Moody’s estimates as of the latest available information, the five banks’ direct exposure to government credit risk stood at around 10.2x of Tier-1 capital for ABL, 8.1x for HBL, 6.4x for MCB, 9.5x for NBP and 6.8x for UBL.

    The high direct exposure to government credit risk, in addition to the primarily Pakistan focus of their operations, links the banks’ credit profile to that of the government. As a result, the improvements in the operating environment and in the sovereign credit profile have eased pressures on banks as well.

    The stable outlook assigned to the banks’ local currency deposit ratings also reflects Moody’s expectation that the government’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate.

    This is reflected by the stable outlook on Pakistan’s sovereign B3 bond rating which is driven by reduced external vulnerability risks on the back of policy adjustments and currency flexibility, as well as ongoing fiscal reforms that will mitigate risks related to debt sustainability and government liquidity.

    The local currency deposit ratings of NBP and HBL incorporate one notch of support uplift from their caa1 baseline credit assessments.

    Moody’s decision to affirm the banks’ ratings reflects their stable deposit-based funding structures, high liquidity buffers and good earnings generating capacity, as well as Pakistan’s high growth potential.

    These credit strengths balance banks’ modest capital buffers and high asset risks, as well as their high exposure to the government, which links their credit profile to that of the government.

    Moody’s does not have any particular environmental, social or governance concern for the banks included in this action, and does not apply any corporate behavior adjustments to them.

  • Import, export of gold prohibited under foreign exchange laws

    Import, export of gold prohibited under foreign exchange laws

    KARACHI: The import and export of gold are prohibited, except with the general permission, under updated foreign exchange manual issued by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

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  • Bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000 worth Rs233 billion documented

    Bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000 worth Rs233 billion documented

    KARACHI: People have documented an amount of Rs233 billion invested in bearer prize bonds of Rs40,000 denominations following the government announcement of discontinuation.

    According to statistics of Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) people have Rs323 billion bearer bonds of Rs40,000 denomination by October 2019, which is around 90 percent of the total invested amount till May 2019.

    The government on June 24, 2019 announced to discontinue the circulation of Rs40,000 denomination national prize bonds in initial phase.

    The investment in prize bonds of Rs40,000 denominations reached to record level of Rs258.72 billion by May 2019.

    However, since announcement the stock of bearer prize bonds was gradually falling and reduced to only Rs26.15 billion by October 2019.

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) following the announcement issued procedure for the banks to facilitate general public in exchanging the unregistered prize bonds through three different modes.

    The SBP has barred the exchange of bearer prize bonds against cash.

    However, it can be redeemed against registered or premium prize bonds or can be converted into national saving schemes or face value (direct transfer to the bank account of bond bolder).

    The bearer instruments have been known as parking lot for undocumented economy. Therefore, the government launched registered prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination in March 2017 which could be purchased against certain requirements including Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and valid bank account.

    Following the ban on bearer prize bonds and its conversion through option of known documented manner, the investment in premium prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination jumped up to Rs17 billion by October 2019 as compared with Rs6.17 billion as of May 2019, showing an increase of 175 percent.

    According to the SBP the bearer instrument can also be exchanged in savings schemes such as Special Saving Certificates (SSC) or Defence Saving Certificates (DSC).

    The total investment into the saving certificates increased to Rs2.4 trillion by October 2019 as compared with Rs2.2 trillion by May 2019.

    The government is intended to transform all the bearer prize bonds into to registered securities. In this regard the Central Directorate of National Savings in collaboration with SBP is planning to issue scripless registered prize bonds amongst all denominations with objective to document the economy.

  • SBP directs banks to provide daily branch-level cash position

    SBP directs banks to provide daily branch-level cash position

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday directed the banks to provide branch-wise cash position on daily basis.

    A circular issued by the central bank said that through a circular dated October 04, 2018 wherein SBP introduced daily branch-level reporting of cash receipts and payments, with a view to monitor and manage cash operations across the industry.

    In order to further enhance the control over reported data, it has been decided to route the data reporting through Data Acquisition Portal (DAP).

    Banks are therefore advised to report daily branch wise cash receipts & payments data via DAP with effect from December 09, 2019.

    In the previous circular issued in October 2018, the SBP said that While appreciating the efforts of banks in efficient reporting through DAP, SBP intends to further improve the reporting mechanism with a view to monitor and manage the cash operations, banks would be required to upload/submit branch wise cash receipt and withdrawal position at each day end.

    Accordingly, SBP has made necessary development in SBP Data Acquisition Portal (DAP) to facilitate banks in submission of branch wise daily position.

    In order to acquaint the respective officials of banks, SBP is organizing an orientation session.

    Therefore, banks are requested to nominate, at least two, officials to participate in the session.