PTI government launches another incentive scheme for the Overseas Pakistanis remittances
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ISLAMABAD - PTI government launches another incentive scheme for the Overseas Pakistanis remittances.
To boost up remittance inflows in the country through banking channels, the government has come up with special incentives for senders/overseas Pakistanis in terms of monetary gains.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, expatriate Pakistanis living in different countries will have a reimbursement amount of 10 Saudi Riyal or its equivalent in local currency if they send remittances $100 or more.
Home remittance transactions equal to and above USD 100 but less than USD 200 (or equivalent in other currencies) shall be reimbursed at SAR 10, read the circular.
Similarly, the sender of the remittances of $200 (or equivalent for other countries) will reimbursed at SAR 20.
The central bank also encouraged banks to provide easiness to the customers by ensuring hassle-free and rapid services for remittances
Previously, a reimbursement of SAR 20 was entitled to the sender of $200 million only.
It is pertinent to mention here that the bank and the correspondent entity have not charged their customers any fee or other charges at any stage for sending or receiving home remittances.
The government has launched a performance-based scheme for banks this year effective from January 01, 2020. The government will reimburse banks on the account of marketing expense that is, a Re. 1 per each incremental USD mobilized over 15% to the required banks’ growth.
Workers’ remittances are expected to remain robust in FY20 on the back of measures taken and incentives given to overseas Pakistanis, remitting under the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI). The SBP estimates home remittances of up to $25.6 billion for this fiscal year compared to $21.8 billion in last fiscal year.
Pakistan has emerged as one of the top five recipients of remittances in the region in 2018. The region’s top five were:
- India ($78.6 billion), - China ($67.4 billion), - the Philippines ($33.8 billion), - Pakistan ($21 billion), - Viet Nam ($15.9 billion).
However, remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis in the first four months of the current fiscal year (July-October 2019) remained almost flat at $7.48 billion.
