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  • SBP extends deferment of principal amount facility till September 30

    SBP extends deferment of principal amount facility till September 30

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to extend the deferment of principal amount facility up till September 30, 2020, a statement said on Tuesday.

    The central bank said that considering the fact that COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to stress the cash flow of small and medium sized businesses and households, SBP has decided to extend the Deferment of Principal Amount facility up till September 30, 2020.

    This facility will however be available for Small & Medium Enterprise Financing, Consumer Financing, Housing Finance, Agriculture Finance and Micro financing only.

    The facility is not being extended to corporates and commercial borrowers since a significant amount of their loans and advances has already been deferred.

    It is expected that more businesses and households, who were not able to avail the facility, will benefit from this extension.

    On March 26, 2020, amid growing concerns about the potential economic impact of the COVID–19 pandemic, SBP with the collaboration of Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) announced a comprehensive set of measures to help businesses and households to manage their finances.

    Among these, a key measure was the deferment of principal amount of loans and advances by banks and DFIs.

    Under this facility, businesses and households could request for the deferment of their loans and advances for a period of one year, albeit continuing to service the mark-up amount.

    The measure also ensured that the deferment of principal will not affect borrower’s credit history and such facilities will not be reported as restructured/rescheduled in the credit bureau’s data.

    This measure proved extremely helpful for borrowers and is evident from the fact that up till 3rd July 2020, banks deferred Rs593 billion of principal amount of loans of over 359 thousand borrowers.

    A very large number of borrowers— 95 percent of total beneficiaries of this scheme, as of July 3, 2020 have been small borrowers including SMEs, consumer finance, and microfinance.

  • Government borrowing from commercial banks rises to Rs2,413 billion in 2019/2020

    Government borrowing from commercial banks rises to Rs2,413 billion in 2019/2020

    KARACHI: The federal government has borrowed Rs2,413 billion from commercial banks during fiscal year 2019/2020 as against retirement of Rs771.6 billion in the preceding fiscal year, according to statistics released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday.

    (more…)
  • SBP expands refinance facility for health sector to combat COVID-19

    SBP expands refinance facility for health sector to combat COVID-19

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday expand the refinance facility at lower rates for health sector in order to combat COVID-19.

    On March 17, 2020, SBP introduced a refinance scheme, titled Refinance Facility to Combat Covid-19 (RFCC), to support the hospitals and health sector for providing services to directly fight against Covid-19.

    Under this scheme, banks provide concessional loans at a maximum end-user rate of 3 percent for 5 years for hospitals and medical centers to purchase medical equipment and set up isolation wards for developing capacity and supporting the health sector in fight against COVID-19.

    Since its inception up till 2nd July 2020, Rs 6.4 billion of concessional credit have been approved for hospitals and other eligible facilities to fight COVID-19.

    Keeping in view the encouraging response and the potential to help developing the health facilities in the country, SBP has now expanded the scope of this refinance facility further.

    The scheme now allows manufacturers of protective gears and equipment, including items such as masks, dresses, testing kits, hospital beds, ventilators etc. to avail financing under RFCC.

    Moreover, to cope with the rising needs of the health facilities in general in the country, SBP has allowed hospitals serving patients even other than COVID-19 to avail this facility.

    Refinance facility will be available for setting up or expansion of the existing hospitals fulfilling minimum specified standards.

    For setting up new hospitals under this scheme, payments will be released by the banks on completing relevant milestones.

    RFCC is highly subsidized facility where SBP provides refinance to banks at 0% whereas banks can keep a maximum margin of 3%. Some of the banks treating this as part of their CSR are keeping margins very low.

  • Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves increase by $1.24bn

    Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves increase by $1.24bn

    KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $1.24 billion to $17.97 billion by week ended June 26, 2020, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $16.73 billion by week ended June 19, 2020.

    The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP increased by $1.27 billion to $11.231 billion by week ended June 26, 2020. The official reserves of the central bank were at $9.961 billion a week ago.

    The SBP said that during the week ended June 26, 2020, the central bank received around $2,046 million official inflows, including $737 million from World Bank, $503 million from Asian Development Bank, $500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and $300 million as GOP loan disbursement from China.

    After incorporating government external debt payments of $ 809 million, SBP reserves increased by $ 1,270 million to $ 11,231 million.

    During the current week, SBP has received additional $1,000 million as GOP loan disbursement from China.

    These funds will be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of July 03, 2020 to be released on July 09, 2020.

  • SBP seeks feedback on automaton of tax refund payment

    SBP seeks feedback on automaton of tax refund payment

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has invited business community to provide feedback on an ongoing project of automation of payment of tax refunds by the central bank.

    Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, SBP held the online meeting with the business community today to seek feedback on an ongoing project of automation of payment of tax refunds by SBP.

    The meeting was attended by the office bearers of Pakistan Business Council (PBC), Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI) and Chambers of Commerce and Industries of various cities.

    Governor SBP in his opening remarks introduced SBP’s Automation of Payment of Tax Refunds Project saying that after automation of government’s revenue collections, efforts are underway by SBP to automate the government’s payments to ensure transparency, efficiency and public convenience.

    He said that improving ease of doing business is one of the shared goals of the government and SBP for its significant potential impact on boosting economic activity in the country.

    Governor Baqir remarked that Automation of payment of Tax Refunds Project is a part of SBP efforts in this direction in collaboration with FBR and Pakistan Customs. Adding further, he said that since the project is ultimately going to benefit the businesses, it is important that the system is developed in consultation with all the stakeholders including the businesses.

    He emphasized that, in this regard, feedback of businesses is very important since they are the key stakeholders.

    A senior SBP official gave a detailed presentation on the project elaborating that the project constituted two broader components, automation of payment of duty drawback claims and the automation of payment of sales tax refunds.

    After highlighting the issues in the existing mechanisms he explained that how the automation will simplify the processes and bring efficiency in terms of time saving and human resources.

    He highlighted that there will be minimal human intervention in processing and payment of refund claims as the system generated payment messages will be sent to SBP on real time basis through an interface between FBR/Pakistan Customs and SBP for crediting the funds in the claimants’ account.

    The representatives of Chambers of Commerce appreciated the initiative of SBP and provided valuable feedback. They also assured their cooperation to SBP in the development of this project of national importance.

  • SBP directs banks, exporters to submit undertaking for true e-form

    SBP directs banks, exporters to submit undertaking for true e-form

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed banks and exporters to submit undertaking for true e-form under export finance scheme.

    According to a circular issued on July 01, 2020 the banks shall provide details of exporters including name and address, NTN. Besides, the banks will also provide number and amount of export proceeds.

    Furthermore, both banks and exporters shall undertake that:
    In case of mismatch between the commodity and HS code provided, the entry will not be considered for performance/entitlement until rectified.

    The contents of subject MS excel file titled[Bank Prefix-Exporter’s NTN-Serial Number] are correct and complied with relevant instructions of the EFS.

    The exports on usance basis reported in the above referred statement are against irrevocable letter(s) of credit which is/are eligible for negotiation and the usance bills in respect thereof have not been negotiated with a scheduled bank in Pakistan except those mentioned there against.

    The statement does not include:

    I. Any export of commodities which do not qualify for export finance under the Scheme.

    II. Any export made under a Contract/LC against which they obtained export finance from any bank under Part-I of the Scheme (this clause is required in case of EF-1 Statements only).

    The SBP further said that through circular letter no. 12 dated June 26, 2020 wherein banks have been advised to get verified their EE-1/EF-1 statements and submit the same to concerned SBP-BSC offices.

    As it is in the knowledge of banks that in order to streamline the process and ensure smooth execution of workflow, hard copy submission of EE-1/EF-1 Statements has already been dispensed with and only soft copies of EE-1/EF-1 statement on the excel format attached at Annexure-I shall be submitted by banks.

    In addition, banks shall submit scanned copy of original undertaking duly signed by the exporter and the authorized personnel of the bank on the format attached at Annexure-II. Banks shall attach the scanned copy of the undertaking in the email containing soft copy of EE-1/EF-1 statement.

    The soft copies of EE-1/EF-1Statements of Karachi region shall be sent electronically to FEOD-HOK, through bank personnel’s official email address on: [email protected];whereas, for regions other than Karachi, the respective SBP-BSC Office will provide email addresses to banks’ Regional Heads.

    The following must be ensured by banks at the time of submission of email containing soft copy of EE-1/EF-1statement and undertaking:

    1. Email is properly titled as “Verification of EE-1/EF-1Statement: M/s [Exporter Name]”
    2. Excel file is properly titled as “[Bank Prefix –Exporter’s NTN –Serial Number]”.
    3. Single consolidated statement is submitted for each exporter having Advance Payment and Post-shipment entries.
    4. E-Form No. and NTN is in the correct format.
    5. Currency, Schedule and Sales Term is statedasper formatprovided in the list in drop-down of the relevant column in MS Excel file.
    6. All entries have been reported in ITRS.
    7. All shipping documents have been submitted for shipments against Advance Payments.

    The SBP said that soft copies of EE-1/EF-1statements should be submitted at FEOD Karachi and Field Offices along with undertaking strictly as per the formats provided.

  • SBP extends employment support scheme for three months

    SBP extends employment support scheme for three months

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has extended the Rozgar scheme for another three months and, in collaboration with the Government of Pakistan, has increased the risk coverage for SMEs under the scheme.

    Soon after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, SBP took a number of steps to provide economic support to businesses and households. SBP reduced the financial cost to the private and public businesses and households by reducing the policy rate by a cumulative 625 basis points since 17th March 2020. To improve the cash flow of businesses and households, it allowed deferment of principal amount and restructuring of loans. In addition to these measures, SBP introduced several refinance schemes to support employment and investment to fight the economic impact of COVID-19, the SBP said.

    Refinance Scheme to Support Employment and Prevent Layoff of Workers, commonly known as SBP Rozgar scheme: This scheme provides concessional loans to businesses for wages and salaries expenses provided they commit not lay off their employees for the period of the loan.  SBP has decided to extend the validity of this scheme by another 3 months to end September, 2020. Businesses will now be able to obtain financing to pay wages and salaries for a maximum period of 6 months starting April 2020 till September 2020.

    Effectively, this suggests that not only businesses can obtain loans to fund their wages and salaries bill up to a period of 3 months from July till September 2020, but can also get reimbursement for the wages and salaries paid during April-June 2020.  For those who have already availed financing under the scheme, financing limits for the months of July to September 2020 will be calculated on the same basis on which limits were calculated for the months of April to June 2020.

    Under the scheme, up till 19th June 2020, financing of Rs 112.8 billion have been approved by banks for 1653 businesses covering wages and salaries of over 1.1 million employees.

    The government Risk Sharing Facility under SBP Rozgar Scheme: With a view to incentivize banks/DFIs for financing to SMEs and non SME corporates, Government of Pakistan (GoP) introduced a Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) for SBP’s Rozgar Scheme.

    Under this facility, GoP bears 40 percent first loss on disbursed portfolio (principal portion only) for eligible borrowers.

    Government of Pakistan has now decided not only to extend validity of its risk sharing facility (RSF) for another three months for SMEs and small corporates with turnover of up to Rs 2 billion but also enhanced risk coverage for SMEs from 40 percent to 60 percent First Loss on portfolio basis.

    This higher risk coverage will help banks to provide financing under Rozgar scheme to collateral deficient SMEs which are otherwise struggling hard.

     SBP now expects that more SMEs will benefit from the scheme mainly due to higher risk coverage, more awareness of the scheme among the stakeholders and robust support mechanism to address queries and complaints with well organized set up comprising regional focal persons of SBP Offices and banks all across the country. Under the RSF, up till 19th June 2020, financing of Rs 25.4 billion have been approved by banks for around 1100 businesses covering wages and salaries of over 220,000 employees.

    It is expected that the above two measures will allow more businesses to benefit from these schemes and thereby support the employment of their employees.

  • Bank holiday announced on July 01

    Bank holiday announced on July 01

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will remain closed for public dealing on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, which will be observed as ‘Bank Holiday’ enabling the bank to close its accounts, the central bank said in a statement on Monday.

    All employees of the Bank will attend to their official assignments (in-office or work-from-home, as designated under the current COVID-19 situation) on Bank Holiday treating it as a normal working day (except for public dealing), it added.

  • SBP enhances credit card limits under consumer financing

    SBP enhances credit card limits under consumer financing

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday enhanced credit card limit by amending regulations related to consumer financing.

    The SBP said that It had decided to revise the regulatory limits prescribed in the Para 1 and 2 of the Regulation R-8 of Prudential Regulations for Consumer Financing as under:-

    REGULATION R-8

    MAXIMUM CLEAN LIMIT FOR CREDIT CARD AND PERSONAL LOAN / FINANCING FROM ALL BANKs/DFIs

    EXISTING LIMITSREVISED LIMITS
    Total Clean Limits
    Credit Cards + Personal Loans – Rs2 million
    Total Clean and Secured Limits
    Credit Cards + Personal Loans – Rs5 million    		Total Clean Limits
    Credit Cards + Personal Loans – Rs3 million
    Total Clean and Secured Limits
    Credit Card + Personal Loans – Rs7 million
    Prime Customer
    Total Clean Limits
    Credit Card + Personal Loans – Rs5 million
    [subject to condition that clean limit assigned to a prime customer, on account of, personal loans limit will not exceed Rs2 million]    		Prime Customer
    Total Clean Limits
    Credit Cards + Personal Loans – Rs7 million
    [subject to condition that clean limit assigned to a prime customer, on account of, personal loans limit will not exceed Rs4 million]

    The SBP said that the Banks/DFIs may assign clean and secured limits to a single customer up to aforesaid amounts, in aggregate, from all Banks/DFIs.

    All other instructions on the subject shall, however, remain unchanged. The Banks/DFIs are advised to follow the regulations in letter and spirit. Any deviation or non-compliance of the same shall attract punitive action under the relevant provisions of the Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962.

  • SBP foreign exchange reserves slip to $9.96 billion

    SBP foreign exchange reserves slip to $9.96 billion

    KARACHI: The official foreign exchange reserves of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $146 million to $9.961 billion by week ended June 19, 2020, according to weekly data of foreign exchange reserves of the country issued by the SBP on Thursday.

    The official reserves of the central bank were at $10.107 billion by week ended June 12, 2020.

    The SBP said that during the week ended June 19, 2020, SBP reserves decreased by $146 million to $ 9,961.2 million. This decline is attributed to government external debt payments of $ 244.5 million.

    During the current week, SBP has received around $1,725 million, including $725 million from the World Bank, US$500 million from Asian Development Bank and US$500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

    These funds will be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of 26-June-2020 to be released on 02-July-2020.

    The total foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $45 million to $16.73 billion by week ended June 19, 2020 as compared with $16.775 billion a week ago.

    However, the foreign exchange reserves of commercial banks increased by $101 million to $6.769 billion by week ended June 19, 2020 as compared with $6.668 billion a week ago.