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.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued an important clarification on Monday regarding the restrictions on foreign currency accounts, emphasizing that these limitations do not apply to non-resident Pakistanis.
(more…)KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will expedite issuance of payment licenses to FinTech companies in order to accelerate financial inclusion program.
A report on “Roadmap for Stability and Growth” issued by Finance Ministry, regarding financial inclusion program, stated that SBP to expedite issuance of Payment licenses to Fintech companies with established customer base; development of Micro Payment Gateway (MPG) for retail payments; facilitate expansion of national merchant integration into mobile payments and commence operationalization of Asaan Mobile Account (AMA) Scheme.
It said that much remains to be done on financial inclusion. As of 2015, merely 16 percent of the adult population had a bank account, with account ownership for women standing at a dismal 11 percent, whereas a large segment of faith-sensitive population remained voluntarily excluded.
Financing to priority sectors such as agriculture and housing remained constrained, with SMEs claiming a minuscule share.
Moreover, regional disparities increased over time.
The National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), developed and adopted by the government in 2015, aimed at achieving inclusive economic growth through enhanced access to finance and deposit base, promotion of small and medium enterprises, easy and affordable access to finance to farmers, facilitation in low cost housing finance and provision of Shariah-compliant banking solutions.
Digitization of payments across the country borders is a priority of the Government and the following targets have been set for achievement by 2023:
Enhance usage of Digital Payments (65 million active digital transaction accounts, with gender segregation of 20 million accounts by Women).
By digitizing government payments and receipts, automation of CDNS branches, and digitization of services provided by Pakistan Post the Government san kick start digitization of payments.
Fiscal concessions may be offered on mobile phone duties (< Rs 8k), and sales tax for user charges for Data be refunded into subscriber account monthly by Telephone companies, against Government refunds, or suitable alternative method. To oversee progressive digitization of government payments and to coordinate regulatory enabling, the Government may consider institutionalizing centralized responsibility under a Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Finance. It would be necessary to hire a market professional for this function.
• Enhance Deposit Base (Deposit-to-GDP ratio to 55 percent)
• Promote SME Finance (Extend finance to 700,000 SMEs; 17 percent of the private sector credit)
• Increase Agricultural Finance (Serve 6 million farmers through digitalized solutions; enhance annual disbursement to Rs1.8 trillion)
• Enhance share of Islamic Banking (25 percent of the banking industry; increase branches of Islamic banks to 30 percent of the banking industry)
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended down by 20 paisas in open market on Saturday owing to recent changes in the federal cabinet.
The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs142.00/Rs142.50 from previous day’s closing of Rs142.00/Rs142.50 in cash ready market.
The local unit lost 50 paisas against the greenback during the last two days.
Currency dealers said that the rupee was under pressure in the open market owing to uncertainty over the fate of the local currency after the new finance adviser had been installed by the Prime Minister.
Asad Umar, who resigned from the portfolio of finance minister, said that any new finance incharge had to take difficult decision for betterment of economy.
KARACHI: The rupee maintained level against dollar for the fifth consecutive day on Friday amid reshuffle in the federal cabinet.
The rupee ended Rs141.40 to the dollar, the same previous day’s level, in interbank foreign exchange market.
The interbank foreign exchange market was initiated in the range of Rs141.39 and Rs141.40.
The market recorded day high of Rs141.40 and low of Rs141.3950 and closed at Rs141.40.
The rupee maintained the level of Rs141.40 to the dollar since April 15, 2019. The rupee also maintained the level despite major reshuffle in the federal cabinet and resignation of the finance minister.
The exchange rate in the open market however ended with depreciation of the local currency.
The buying and selling of dollar of Rs141.80/Rs142.30 from previous day’s closing of Rs141.50/Rs142.00 in cash ready market.
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee remained unchanged against dollar on Thursday amid lackluster trading activities.
The rupee ended Rs141.40 to the dollar, the same previous day’s closing level, in interbank foreign exchange market.
The interbank foreign exchange market was initiated in the range of Rs141.39 and Rs141.40.
The market recorded day high of Rs141.40 and low of Rs141.40 and closed at Rs141.40.
The exchange rate in open market however ended with appreciation of the local unit.
The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs141.50/Rs142.00 as compared with previous day’s closing of Rs141.70/Rs142.20 in cash ready market.
KARACHI: Zubyr Soomro has been appointed as chairman of Board of Directors of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), said a notice to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday.
A day earlier the finance division notified appointment of chairman and directors on the board of NBP with immediate effect.
According to the notice the following members have been appointed on the NBP board:
01. Zubyr Soomro, chairman on vacant slot
02. Mohammad Sohail Rajput AFS (IF/Inv), Finance Division, Director representing the government. He has replaced A Akbar Sharifzada, Ex-AFS, Finance Division
03. Tawfiq Asghar Hussain, Director, who replaced Muhammad Imran Malik
04. Ms. Sadaffe Abid, Director, who replaced Asad Munir
05. Zafar Masud has been appointed as director on the vacant slot
06. Imam Bakhsh Baloch has been appointed as director on the vacant slot
KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said that stakeholders would be taken onboard while taking decision on Treasury Single Account (TSA).
In a statement, the central bank said that some news are circulating on social media regarding government plans to introduce TSA.
While the proposal to introduce TSA is being examined by the government in consultation with the SBP as part of its agenda to reform public financial management, however, no decision has yet been made to implement the TSA, the central bank said.
“Any decision in this regard will be taken after due consultation with all the stakeholders and assessing its impact on the banking industry,” it added.
It will, therefore, be premature to form any opinion about the proposed policy decision and thus the market players should avoid engaging in any speculative activities based on this proposal which is still under examination.
KARACHI: The banking deposits have reached to all time high at Rs13.45 trillion by end of March 2019 amid reports of government initiatives of Treasury Single Account (STA).
The deposits of the banking system increased to Rs13.456 trillion by March 2019 as compared with Rs12.57 trillion in the same month a year ago, showing growth of seven percent, according to statistics released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday.
Previously, the deposits hit record high at Rs13.35 trillion by the end of December 2018.
Analysts said that the initiatives of TSA would have negative repercussions on the banking deposits.
The has drafted a proposal to introduce TSA to transfer its deposits that are currently being maintained with commercial banks, to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
In this regard, SBP a day earlier held a meeting with bank representatives to brief them about the proposed mechanism of TSA.
The SBP has asked banks to provide feedback by the end of this month on the viability to consolidate government accounts into a single account as well as the readiness of their system to perform the implementation, as per channel checks.
Analysts at Topline Securities said that it would be a negative development for banks in terms of systematic risk as total government deposits with commercial banks are around Rs1.9 trillion or 13.7 percent of total deposits, around which, Rs0.9 trillion are of the federal government.
Bank of Khyber (BOP) has the highest government deposits (Federal & Provincial) of 63 percent of its total deposits, followed by Bank of Punjab (BOP) 56 percent, Askari Bank (AKBL) 33 percent and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 29 percent.
The analyst said that in the first phase, federal government deposits (around Rs0.9 trillion) will be transferred to SBP under single account, which may be followed by transfer of provincial deposits (around Rs1 trillion).
KARACHI: The Pak Rupee ended firmer against dollar on Wednesday amid static demand for import and corporate payments.
The rupee ended Rs141.40 to the dollar, the same previous day’s level, in interbank foreign exchange market.
The interbank foreign exchange market was initiated in the range of Rs141.39 and Rs141.40.
The market recorded day high of Rs141.40 and low of Rs141.39 and closed at Rs141.40.
The currency experts said that the falling imports and narrowing trade deficit up to month of March 2019 had helped the rupee to maintain levels.
In the open market the rupee further strengthened owing to inflows.
The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs141.50/Rs142.00 from previous day’s closing of Rs141.70/Rs142.20 in cash ready market.
KARACHI: Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Sharia compliant bank, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Regal Automobile Industries Limited to provide exclusive Shariah-compliant financing solutions and value-added services to its customers.
Arshad Majeed – Group Head Consumer Finance, Meezan Bank signed the MoU with Sohail Usman, Chairman, Regal Automobile Industries Limited – in Karachi, along their respective senior team members.
Arshad Majeed, while speaking at the occasion, expressed his appreciation to Regal Automobile Industries for creating an opportunity to enhance customer experience by offering priority processing, fast track vehicle delivery as well as after-sales benefits.
He further added: “As a leader in Islamic Car Finance in the country, Meezan Bank aims to enhance its product offering by actively working with new automobile manufacturers such as Regal Automobile Industries Limited to offer additional value-added services to its customers.
“We are hopeful that this recent alliance will prove to be mutually beneficial for both the organizations and help in reaching to a larger market.”
Regal Automobile has recently entered into the Pakistani auto market, with a license to locally produce the DFSK (Dongfeng) vehicles originating from China, under the ‘Prince’ brand name. DFSK (Dongfeng) comes under the umbrella of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, the state-owned auto giant.
As per the MoU, Meezan Bank will facilitate the provision of Shariah-compliant car financing solution while Regal Automobile’s brand ‘Prince’ will ensure priority delivery of Vehicles including Glory 580, K07 and C37 with after-sales support services to Meezan Bank’s customers across Pakistan.