Finance Minister Asad Umar has asked Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to finalise proposals and incentives for promoting remittances through legal channels. The finance minister chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to discuss possible measures to promote remittances through legal channels and deliberated upon the issues and problems being faced by the Pakistani Diaspora in sending their remittances to Pakistan through formal banking channels.
An official said that increase in remittances is critical for the country to support the external account that is a major challenge for the government. The official added that the Finance Ministry in consultation with relevant departments want to put in place a mechanism to facilitate those living abroad to send their remittances through legal channels instead of informal channels.
The issues among others included lack of banking facilities for the workers abroad. The Hawala/Hundi mafia took advantage of this deficiency, the meeting observed. The various stakeholders attending the meeting highlighted the procedural and technical improvements that could facilitate the use of formal banking channels for remittances.
The finance minister tasked the Overseas Pakistanis Division to carry out a comprehensive survey of Pakistan labour force''s export destinations as well as their areas of origin in Pakistan.
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was asked to devise mechanism for opening of bank accounts by all Pakistani workers, both at home and the country of their employment with the facility of debit card.
The finance minister also directed National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) to present a concrete proposal on its technology based initiatives on the issue. He directed that all concerned must share with him their proposals, complete in all respects, in the next meeting.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, Overseas Pakistanis Division, FBR, SBP, NADRA, NBP and others attended the meeting. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Zulfiqar Bukhari was also present on the occasion.