Category: Sales

Pakistan’s liquid foreign exchange reserves depleted $381 million in the week ended on November 12, 2021, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The reserves fell below the $24 billion mark after the staggering outflows, as they stood at $23.5 billion.

The foreign reserves held by SBP stood at $16.95 billion. The net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $6.605 billion.

The depleting foreign exchange reserves have continued to put pressure on the strength of the Pakistani Rupee against the Dollar. Expected inflows of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund are likely to strengthen the Rupee against the Dollar.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, held a meeting with renowned International Economist, Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, at Finance Division today. Members of the American Business Council, Secretary Finance, and senior officers participated in the meeting.

Welcoming Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, the Advisor highlighted the current economic situation of Pakistan and briefed on the steps taken by the present government to address the challenges faced by the economy of Pakistan.

The Advisor stressed that priority sectors such as the modernization of agriculture, IT, and industry, as vital for the increase in exports and economic growth. The government has taken pragmatic steps to tackle inflation, stabilize foreign exchange and increase productivity, he added.

Dr. Arthur B. Laffer appreciated the efforts taken by the present government in various sectors for economic progress and development. Citing examples from USA, Turkey, and China in achieving economic stability, he suggested key economic reforms to boost prosperity and economic growth in Pakistan. He cited great potential in accelerated privatization, simplification of taxes, and strengthing of the exchange rate to push the economy forward.

The Advisor welcomed Dr. Arthur’s suggestions on the economy and valuable support for bringing economic progress to Pakistan.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched on Thursday a pilot phase of ‘Digital Power of Attorney’ service for the overseas Pakistanis to facilitate them in the process of issuing Power of Attorney (PoA). The service will initially be made operational at 10 Pakistani missions abroad and will subsequently be replicated at all other missions.

National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has designed, developed, and implemented a web-based solution that allows applying for issuance of PoA.

The digitization of issuing PoA for the expatriates aims at addressing the inconvenience, faced by them, of physically visiting embassies. The digitization of service will provide the much-awaited ease to the expatriates who used to go through a tedious process of physical appearance at their respective embassies and consulates.

The 10 pilot phase missions are Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles in the United States, and London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Bradford in the United Kingdom.

In his remarks on the development, Chairman NADRA, Tariq Malik, said rolling out digital services for expatriates was a step forward towards implementing the Prime Minister’s vision of creating ease in public service delivery. Every year, he underlined, over 73,000 overseas Pakistanis physically visited embassies and missions abroad for PoA issuance.

“The digital solution for the issuance of power of attorney from the comfort of their homes is a leap forward putting an end to customer inconvenience alongside saving time and traveling costs for Overseas Pakistani,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that the overseas Pakistanis, residing in the countries or cities having no Pakistan embassy/consulate, will largely benefit from this online facility, as they had to travel to Pakistan’s diplomatic missions in the nearest countries for issuance of PoA.

This innovative solution for the PoA utilizes state-of-the-art Pak-ID Online Biometric Verification Services. During the application, the applicant(s) (also known as Executor(s)) along with two witnesses will scan and upload their paper-based biometrics, which is verified through the national database in real-time

Following successful biometric verification, NADRA has enabled a Video Interview Module in the application that will allow the Consular Officer at the concerned Pakistan mission abroad to conduct an online interview of the executor(s), witnesses, and notarise their consent to execute the PoA. The solution has features to upload the scanned documents, pictures and also allows Consular Officer at the Foreign Mission to compare and verify the details against NADRA data. The features incorporated above meet the global benchmarks of e-KYC compliance.

In addition to software development and biometric verifications, NADRA will continue to provide customer support to end-users facing issues with their application through Pak-ID Live Chat Feature. NADRA will also provide post-deployment technical support and maintenance services to MoFA.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has warned banks of stern action if the outflow of Dollars including its misuse and speculation is not stopped within the banking sector.

Governor SBP, Reza Baqir, chaired on Thursday a meeting with CEOs of the banks held to discuss the situation of depleting foreign exchange reserves of the banks and the unabated devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar.

According to sources, Governor SBP said the bankers had been involved in the malpractices and speculation of the Dollars through investors and importers which ultimately hit the value of the Rupee.

He directed the banks to enforce strict monitoring against the staff of certain departments particularly the treasury section through telephone calls and available data, and take strict action against those involved in the malpractices.

Sources said the inspection teams of the banking watchdog found out that bankers had asked investors and importers to do advance buying of the Dollars.

Reza Baqir said that country’s current account had been negatively affected by the recent increase of imports coupled with the outflow of Dollars to Afghanistan, which caused the depletion of foreign exchange reserves. However, he said, SBP took outstanding measures to counter these problems and build a positive perception about the currency’s stability. Pakistani Rupee is already stable and will be better once the Saudi funds arrive and Oil Facility comes through, he added.

The Governor directed bank CEOs for informing the internal staff and customers about the stability of the environment and that it is moving in a positive direction.

Recently, the Rupee depreciated against the Dollar to over 175. On the other hand, the foreign exchange reserves fell below the level of $24 billion.

Source: Pro Pakistani