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  • SBP abolishes fee on tax payment through alternate delivery channels

    SBP abolishes fee on tax payment through alternate delivery channels

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced to abolish the fee on payment of government taxes and duties through Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) and Over-the-Counter (OTC) from January 1, 2020.

    A statement issued on Saturday said that presently, the taxpayers pay Rs.10 to Rs.50 per transaction for payment of taxes through ADCs depending on the amount of tax paid, and Rs.50 per transaction for the payments through OTC.

    This fee will be borne by SBP instead of taxpayers from January 1, 2020. The change has been notified through SBP FD Circular No.4 of 2019 dated December 27, 2019.

    The decision is part of SBP efforts to promote digital payments and is likely to attract larger number of taxpayers towards digital payment of government taxes and duties.

    The mechanism for online collection of taxes and duties was introduced in March 2018 in collaboration with Federal Board of revenue (FBR) with the primary objective of taxpayers’ facilitation. The tax payers can pay their taxes from the convenience of their homes or offices using internet/mobile banking facilities, through 14000 plus ATMs or any of the 15000 plus branches of commercial banks across the country. So far Rs.346 billion has been collected through this mechanism. The collections through the ADCs/OTC modes are likely to grow exponentially as the awareness about the mechanism improves.

    SBP is also running an awareness campaign to familiarize the taxpayers, tax bar associations, chambers of commerce, clearing and forwarding agents and business community at large about the ADC and OTC payment mechanisms.

    Seminars and awareness sessions are being arranged across the country through the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation. The first such seminar was held in Karachi on December 26, 2019, which was attended by corporate taxpayers, representatives from chamber of commerce, trade associations, commercial banks, tax bars and audit firms.

    The participants appreciated SBP efforts for promotion of digital payments and said that such sessions are critically important for enhancing public awareness and allaying their fears and apprehensions about digital payments.

  • Bank holiday announced on January 01

    Bank holiday announced on January 01

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday declared bank holiday on January 01, 2020 on account of financial close of banking companies.

    In a circular issued to presidents and chief executives of all banks, development financial institutions and microfinance banks, the SBP informed that the central bank will remain closed for public dealing on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, which will be observed as ‘Bank Holiday’.

    All banks / DFIs / MFBs shall, therefore, remain closed for public dealing on the above date. However, all employees of banks / DFIs / MFBs will attend the office as usual, the SBP said.

  • Banks to observe extended working hours on Dec 31 to facilitate taxpayers

    Banks to observe extended working hours on Dec 31 to facilitate taxpayers

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday announced that banks will observed extended working hours to facilitate taxpayers in payment of duty and taxes on December 31, 2019.

    In order to facilitate the collection of government receipts / duties / taxes, it has been decided that authorized branches of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) as well as field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC) will observe extended banking hours up to 9:00 PM on December 31, 2019 (Tuesday).

    Accordingly, NBP branches will settle their transactions with respective SBP-BSC field offices on the same day i.e. December 31, 2019 for which purpose a special clearing has been arranged at 7:00 P.M. by the NIFT.

    All banks are, therefore, advised to keep their concerned branches open on December 31, 2019 (Tuesday) till such time that is necessary to facilitate the special clearing for Government transactions, the SBP said.

  • Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves slip by $60 million

    Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves slip by $60 million

    KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country slipped by $60 million to $17.595 billion by week ended December 20, 2019, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $17.655 billion by week ended December 13, 2019.

    The foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP increased by $15 million to $10.907 billion by week ended December 20, 2019 as compared with $10.892 billion a week ago.

    The SBP said that on December 23, 2019, it received $452.4 million from International Monetary Fund (IMF) as second tranche under EFF program.

    These funds will be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of December 27, 2019, to be released on January 02, 2020.

    The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks fell by $75 million to $6.688 billion as against $6.763 billion a week ago.

  • SBP extends date for implementing machine authenticated Rs50 banknotes

    SBP extends date for implementing machine authenticated Rs50 banknotes

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has extended the date for banks regarding issuance of machine authenticated Rs50 banknotes.

    In a notification issued on Thursday, the central bank said that considering the difficulties faced by banks in machine processing of lower denomination banknotes under the Currency Management Strategy (CMS), it had been decided to extend the effective date for issuance of machine authenticate Rs50 banknotes until January 4, 2021.

    The banks are however encouraged to gradually adopt machine processing and authentication of Rs50 banknotes.

    Earlier, the banks were required to process lower denomination banknotes under the CMS from January 02, 2020.

    The SBP on August 31, 2017 issued Currency Management System, which is as follow:

    Considering the various aspects of implementation and feedback of the stakeholders, the following changes have been made in the strategy:

    I. Sealed Cassettes based feeding of ATMs:

    The instructions contained at section C (iii) of FD Circular No.03/2015 dated August 26, 2015 regarding use of standardized purpose built cassettes for feeding of ATMs shall stand amended as under:

    a) The requirement of cassette based feeding of ATMs has been made optional for the time being. The banks are however encouraged to plan for gradual movement towards cassette based feeding to comply with our instructions. SBP will continue to monitor the situation on periodic basis for a policy decision.

    b) The banks may alternatively use sealed bags or trays for feeding of ATMs. However the banks shall ensure that sealing and unsealing of bags/trays and replenishment of ATMs is carried out under proper CCTV controlled environment.

    c) The on-site ATMs can be fed by their respective branches provided that the end to end process from cash processing to ATM feeding is covered by CCTV cameras.

    d) Other requirements as advised under section C of FD Circular No.03/2015 dated August 26, 2015 shall remain applicable.

    II. Application of Strategy on lower banknote denominations:

    The instructions contained at section-I of FD Circular No.01/2016 dated January 25, 2016 regarding implementation of phase-II of strategy for all denomination of banknotes w.e.f. 2nd January 2018 shall stand amended as under:

    a) The banks will start disbursing machine authenticated banknotes of Rs 100 w.e.f. 2nd January 2018 and Rs 50 w.e.f. 2nd January 2019 respectively.

    b) The lower banknote denominations of Rs 20 and Rs 10 have been excluded from Currency Management Strategy.

    III. Banknote Packing Instructions (BPI)

    The Banknote Packing Instructions issued vide FD Circular No.02/2017 dated March 10, 2017 shall stand amended as under:

    a) The effective date of instructions contained at section 1.2 and 1.3 of BPI has been extended from 3rd July 2017 to 1st December 2017.

    The banks may deposit the cash processed and packed by other bank(s) with SBP BSC or offer the same in IEC. The earlier requirement that the cash processed and packed by the depositing bank can only be deposited with SBP BSC or offered for exchange in IEC shall stand withdrawn. However, in case of any discrepancy, the bank which has processed and packed the cash shall be responsible.

  • Concentration of banks’ shareholding to few families against good governance practices: SBP governor

    Concentration of banks’ shareholding to few families against good governance practices: SBP governor

    KARACHI: Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that concentration of banks’ shareholding to a few families and their nominees on the boards is against the good governance practices.

    Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan during his inaugural address in a seminar on “Emerging Trends in Good Governance of Banking Sector” in SAARC countries highlighted the importance of efficient and robust governance structure in the banking industry for sustainable economic growth of a country, said a statement issued by the central bank on Tuesday.

    He said that concentration of banks’ shareholding to a few families and their nominees on the Boards is against the good governance practices and may adversely impact the effectiveness of the Board.

    Besides Pakistan, the seminar was attended by delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

    While addressing to the participants from SAARC member countries at National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), Islamabad, Dr. Baqir said that corporate governance is corner stone for the success of any business entity.

    However, for financial institutions, the importance of corporate governance becomes even more critical as banks are highly leveraged entities facing a wide range of risks in their day-to-day operations.

    Therefore, the scope and approach to banks’ corporate governance requires a different and specific regulatory framework not only because of their leveraged business model but also due to diverse ownership and group structure.

    Dr. Baqir emphasized that boards of the banks with more gender diversity or female representatives and diversified experience in the fields of IT, risk management, finance and economics can play a more effective role in achieving the organization’s overall strategic objectives.

    Dr. Baqir further added that independent directors play an important role in banks by exercising their independent judgement and protect the interest of minority shareholders. He also mentioned that corporate governance practices in public sector banks are generally weak and less transparent due to likely political intervention in the affairs of these banks.

    Therefore, there is a need to rationalize the shareholding structure of these banks to minimize the undesirable role of governments in their affairs. Remuneration practices of Board members and compliance of AML/ CFT regime are also significantly important areas where the Boards need to assume enhanced responsibilities to meet the international best practices.

    He also cited few of SBP’s efforts such as Guidelines on Performance Evaluation of Board of Directors, Enterprise Technology Governance & Risk Management Framework, Governance Framework for Banks’ Overseas Operations, Compliance Risk Management and Internal Audit Function Guidelines and Streamlining the existing regulatory requirements on remuneration of Boards and management.

    In his closing remarks, he suggested that Terms of reference (ToRs) of SAARCFINANCE network may be revisited to align the same with emerging challenges being faced by central banks in the region. He further added that expanding business arenas, globalization of financial activities, emergence of new financial products and increased level of competition have not only opened up opportunities but also increased the potential risks from such developments.

    Therefore, such regional forums are very helpful in facilitating knowledge exchange and ongoing collaboration for resolution of region specific issues posing potential risks to the banking sectors in SAARC countries.

    The event was also attended by Dr. Ishrat Husain, Adviser to Prime Minister on Institutional reforms and Austerity and Ms. Tania Adruis, Head of Digital Pakistan Initiative. Both the keynote speakers emphasized upon further strengthening the culture of good corporate governance to achieve the desired strategic objectives.

    The second day of the seminar largely focused on governance practices in the SAARC region wherein foreign delegates and SBP presented their respective country practices in the subject area.

  • SBP includes Japanese Yen to Asian clearing union mechanism

    SBP includes Japanese Yen to Asian clearing union mechanism

    KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday announced to include Japanese Yen to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism.

    A statement issued by the central bank said that it had been decided to include ACU Japanese Yen as the third ACU currency along with USD & EURO with effect from January 01, 2020.

    The ACU Yen would be equivalent in value to one Yen. Accordingly, transactions under ACU Mechanism, in addition to ACU Dollar (ACUD) & ACU Euro (ACUE), may also be denominated and settled in ACU Yen (ACUY) from January 01, 2020.

    In this regard, ADs may establish ACUY accounts with their correspondents in ACU member countries and open their correspondents’ ACUY accounts with them.

    The transactions in ACUY would be reported by ADs to SBP and settled by SBP separately likewise in other two ACU currencies.

    Accordingly, three separate accounts will be maintained for the settlement of each ACU currency (ACU Dollar, ACU Euro and ACU Yen).

    Further, with a view to encourage ADs to maintain reasonable / sufficient balances in their accounts to ensure timely payments, the authorized dealers are permitted to pay / receive interest, at their discretion, on these (ACUD, ACUE & ACUY) accounts as per mutually agreed terms and conditions.

    The balances of ACUD, ACUE & ACUY accounts together with other FCY / Nostro accounts would however be subject to the overall exposure limits of ADs.

  • Bank holiday

    Bank holiday

    KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday said that the central bank will remain closed on December 25, 2019 (Wednesday) on the occasion of Qauid-e-Azam Day and Christmas.

    In a circular issued to all the presidents and chief executives of banks, development finance institutions and microfinance banks, the central bank said that it will remained closed on December 25, 2019 (Wednesday) on the occasion of Qauid-e-Azam Day and Christmas, as declared by the government of Pakistan.

  • Pakistan’s forex reserves increase to $17.655 billion

    Pakistan’s forex reserves increase to $17.655 billion

    KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country have increased by $1.607 billion, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

    The foreign exchange reserves increased to $17.655 billion by week ended on December 13, 2019 as compared with $16.048 billion a week ago.

    The foreign exchange reserves of the central bank increased $1.659 billion to $10.892 billion by week ended December 13, 2019 as compared with $9.233 billion a week ago.

    The reserves held by the commercial banks declined nominally to $6.762 billion by December 13, 2019 as compared with $6.814 billion a week ago.