Lahore: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet has approved a number of measures to boost remittances via official banking channels, a news source reported. According to the publication, these measures are aimed at encouraging and facilitating overseas Pakistanis to send their remittances via government approved means.
The ECC provided its approval to the measures as Advisor to
Prime Minister (PM) on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the
meeting. The meeting approved the following measures:
The government will increase the rebate if reimbursement
of Telegraphic Transfer fees transactions between USD 100 and USD 200 from
SAR-10/- to SAR-29/-
Amount of remittances transferred into bank
accounts will not incur withholding tax. This measure will come into effect
from July 1, 2020
New Scheme of Incentives launched in 2018-2019
for banks and exchange companies will continue during the current calendar year
from January 2020. Under this scheme, the financial institutions will have
incentives of PKR 0.50 per USD 1 on 5% growth, PKR 0.75 per USD 1 on 10%
growth, and PKR 1 per USD 1 on 15% growth
The government will launch a ‘National
Remittance Loyalty Programme’ from September 1, 2020 in collaboration with
major commercial banks and government agencies. The programme will provide
various incentives to remitters via mobile applications and cards
Provision of a technical supplementary grant of
PKR 9.6 billion during the ongoing fiscal year in order to finance the
above-mentioned measures
