*ISLAMABAD – *Recognising the importance of remittances in nationaldevelopment, the incumbent government was planning to introduce ‘DigitalChallenger Bank’ to incentivise overseas Pakistanis to use formal legalchannels to send their money to their families in Pakistan.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistan and Human Resource Development recentlyapprised Finance Minister Asad Umer on the project which was likely to bepresented before Prime Minister Imran Khan for final approval, SpecialAssistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistan Syed Zulfiqar HussainBukhari said while talking to APP on Sunday.
The initiative was aimed at making banking channels cost-effective andhassle-free for Pakistani expatriates to discourage the illegal means oftransferring money like the Hundi system which was the main impediment inGross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
The country’s first ever digital national remittance bank would beestablished in head office of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to start itsfunctioning as soon as possible, Bukhari said.
He said, “We are focusing on using automation to ensure swift servicedelivery by creating expat-friendly banking environment who are enduringtough working schedule overseas.”
Every year, overseas Pakistanis were sending over US$20 billion throughproper channel, while over US$10 to US$15 billion was making its way viainformal means in the country, he claimed.
He added that they were working closely with State Bank of Pakistan and theNBP to materialise the initiative for increased use of banking channels togive a muscle boost to the country’s foreign reserves.
Bukhari said they had introduced biometric verification system to ensurethe better communication between the ministry and the Pakistani diasporaworking abroad. He informed they would link the facilities, being providedto their families like housing and schooling, with use of legal channelsfor their remittances.
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Highlighting the measures taken by the ministry to enhance the currentamount of remittances, Secretary Overseas Pakistanis Pervaiz Ahmed Janjuainformed that at present, some 19 Community Welfare Attaches (CWAs),working in different countries had been directed to sensitise the Pakistanidiaspora about using the legal banking channels for transfer of their moneyto uplift the national economy.
They were mulling to relocate the CWAs to those countries where the numberof the overseas Pakistanis was much in density, he added.
“Currently, there are 1,25,000 of overseas Pakistanis having ForeignExchange Remittances Card for which Overseas Pakistan Foundation (OPF) hasbeen directed to increase its numbers which eventually help curb the Hundipractice by providing various facilities to expatriates through this card,”the secretary claimed.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led government under Prime Minister Imran Khanwas eager to provide special treatment to Pakistani diaspora working abroadand sought their positive response for addressing the country’s economicchallenges.
Considering them the country’s economic bridge, the PM had also conductedseveral meetings over incentivising Pakistani expatriates.
In the first five months of FY19, remittances from overseas Pakistaniworkers increased 12.56 per cent to US$9.02 billion compared with US$8.02billion in the corresponding period during the previous year. – APP
