ISLAMABAD, July 2: The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) has earned $171.37 million for the national exchequer by introducing foreign exchange remittances card (FERC) scheme.

Sources in the OPF told Dawn that out of this amount, 42 per cent came from the UAE, 19.1 per cent from Saudi Arabia, 15.6 from Kuwait, 9.9 from Bahrain, 5.5 from Qatar and 7.9 per cent from other countries.

The Hundi business, which was inflicting a loss of over $3 billion per annum on the national exchequer, had been stopped, the sources said.

Remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis through normal banking channels are a vital source of foreign exchange support for the country. Funds channelled through Hundi or other means bypass the legal procedure, rendering financial loss to the country.

The sources said foreign exchange remittance by overseas Pakistanis was a potential source for enhancing forex reserves and to balance the country’s entire annual trade deficit. In the recent past, remittances were not more than $1 billion, while, this year we are in a position to attain a target of $4 billion, a record during the past 10 years, they added.

In the past, they said, the bulk of remittances were sent through Hundi operators, which was a result of lack of an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country. One basic reason for the flourishing of Hundi system was the lethargy of the foreign branches of Pakistani banks which failed to facilitate quick remittances from abroad, they said.

The sources said there were more than three million Pakistanis working abroad. Out of these, 1.4 million were working in the Middle East, 0.9 million in the UK, Germany, United States, Canada and the remaining 0.7 million in other countries.

“It is expected that if only 50 per cent of these three million workers sent remittances of $200 per annum we will be in a position to achieve the $4 billion target. This year we will attain this target,” they added.

To achieve the target, the government, besides financial restructuring, also provided incentives to workers abroad. They said under the FERC scheme, the OPF, in September 2001, had introduced silver and gold remittances cards for overseas Pakistanis who had remitted foreign currency equivalent to $2,500 and $10,000 per annum, respectively, through normal banking channels. So far, 15,965 cards have been issued to workers out of which 6,526 are gold and 9,439, silver. Under this scheme, the country received $130.581 million under the gold card, while $40.792 million under the silver card.

They said workers in the UAE topped by attaining 6,596 cards, while those in Saudi Arabia got 3,103, Kuwait, 2428; and Bahrain, 1,604 cards.

Pakistanis working in 53 countries have applied for cards.

The sources said overseas Pakistanis holding silver and gold cards could import any item under their duty-free allowance entitlement except 11 household/electrical appliances being manufactured in Pakistan. These are air conditioner, cooking range, deep freezer, gas appliances, microwave oven, refrigerator, sewing machine, television sets, VCR, VCP and washing machine.

It may be recalled that these items are available at all duty-free shops in the country in adequate quantity and can be purchased without payment of sales tax against duty-free allowance of overseas Pakistanis holding silver and gold cards.