Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday that Pakistan would witness growth in the next year that would ultimately create employment opportunities for the youth.
Speaking as a chief guest at the launching ceremony of delivery of home remittances by overseas Pakistanis through Pakistan Post, the prime minister said that fiscal year 2019 was a difficult year for the country because of needed stabilization. He maintained that the government has reduced the line losses of power sector by Rs 100 billion and is also trying to deal with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
He said that merit is very important for the development of the country and the government's focus would now be to bring about merit in every department. The prime minister stated that overseas Pakistanis are asset of the country and their remittances are playing an important role for the development of the country. He regretted that the government has not been able to provide facilities to them. "We need to provide incentives to them," he said and added that the government is mulling various options in this regard. He said that health cards would be issued to the families of overseas Pakistanis.
He said that initiative of Pakistan Post would facilitate the Pakistanis living abroad by delivering money at the doorstep. He said that there is a need to make the life easier at police stations and hospitals, adding when the people become stakeholders, the things would change speedily. Merit is very important for strengthening of the institutions.
The secretary Pakistan Post stated, "We have the strength of undertaking financial transactions and are launching it at 500 post offices to increase the remittances without charging anything." He said, "In order to let Pakistanis living abroad understand this; we have also launched Pakistan Post mobile application as well." This would be done by payment on the counters and special desks have been created to facilitate overseas Pakistanis.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister Office stated that the arrangements for delivery of remittances by overseas Pakistanis through Pakistan Post are being made under the umbrella of Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI). Using the NBP portal, remittance beneficiaries can collect their payments free of any charges from post office locations.
By tapping the synergistic benefits of Pakistan Post's vast post office network and NBP's expertise in the remittance business, the initiative will facilitate faster, cheaper and more convenient flow of remittance into Pakistan; encourage overseas Pakistanis to remit their cash through legal means which would eventually lead to boost foreign exchange reserves of the country, and discourage the transfer of funds from foreign countries through illegal means, i.e, Hawala and Hundi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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