Islamabad: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has notified the rules for investment in the Naya Pakistan Certificates that the government recently launched to replace the Pakistan Banao Certificates — a news source reported. The initiative is aimed at encouraging overseas Pakistanis to invest in the country and provide a boost to Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
The certificates will be issued through eight agent banks, including Habib Bank Limited (HBL), United Bank Limited (UBL), Meezan Bank, Bank Alfalah, Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB), Faysal Bank, Samba Bank, and the Standard Chartered Bank.
The overseas Pakistanis will be able to invest by utilizing their Foreign Currency Value Account (FCVA) or the NRP [Non-Resident Pakistani] Rupee Value Account (NRVA) — with the latter now known as the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs).
To be eligible for investment in the Naya Pakistan Certificates, the investment amount must have been remitted after June 30. The investment can be made in USD or PKR certificates of 3-Month, 6-Month, 12-Month, 3-Year, and 5-Year tenors.
Reportedly, for dollar-denominated certificates, the minimum investment will be USD 5,000, with subsequent investments to be integral multiples of USD 1,000. Meanwhile, in case of rupee denominated certificates, the initial investment has to be PKR 100,000, while subsequent investments have to be an integral multiple of PKR 10,000.
In case of 3-Month, 6-Month, and 12-Month tenor certificates, the principal and profit amounts will be paid on maturity. However, in case of 3-year and 5-year certificates, the profit payments will be made on a half-yearly basis in their respective currencies.
These certificates can be encashed prematurely and the rate of return in this case would be the rate of the nearest shorter maturity certificate. Additionally, no profits will be paid in case of encashment before a 3 month period.
