KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday amended instructions in Foreign Exchange Manual regarding remittances on behalf of Hajj group and Umrah organizers.
The SBP invited attention of banks and exchange companies to Para 45A and 45B, Chapter 17 (Travel) of Foreign Exchange Manual in terms of which banks and exchange companies are allowed to make advance remittances on behalf of the Hajj Group Organizers and the Umrah Organizers, subject to compliance of applicable terms and conditions.
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In order to streamline the instructions relating to advance payments by Hajj and Umrah Organizers, the sub-para (viii) of Para 45A and sub-para (viii) of Para 45B of Chapter 17 stand omitted.
The omitted instructions are:
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“viii) In the case of repatriation of advance payment, exchange gain, if any, will not be passed on to the HGO, rather the same will be deposited in favor of State Bank of Pakistan. To this effect, the Authorized Dealer should get consent/agreement signed by the concerned HGO at the time of effecting remittance. 7The exchange gain should be deposited in favor of the State Bank through RTGS Clearing Account No. 427518. In this respect, a consolidated statement regarding all such cases will be submitted by Head/Principal Offices of the Authorized Dealers to the Director, Foreign Exchange Operations Department, SBP-Banking Services Corporation on monthly basis as per prescribed format (Appendix V-141).”
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“viii) In case of repatriation of advance payment(s), exchange gain, if any, will not be passed on to the Umrah Organizer, rather the same will be deposited in favor of State Bank of Pakistan. To this effect, the Authorized Dealer should get consent/ agreement signed by the concerned Umrah Organizer. 9The exchange gain should be deposited in favor of the State Bank through RTGS Clearing Account No. 427518. In this respect, a consolidated statement regarding all such cases will be submitted by Head/Principal Offices of the Authorized Dealers to the Director, Foreign Exchange Operations Department, SBP-Banking Services Corporation on monthly basis as per prescribed format (Appendix V-143).”
