October 21, 2003	Tuesday	Sha'aban 24, 1424

PESHAWAR, Oct 20: State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain has said that cases of loan defaulters, who are not paying heed to the SBP’s guidelines, would be sent to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for stern action.

“NAB would act against all those who ignored SBP’s recently issued guidelines,” said the Central Bank’s chief while issuing a warning to the loan defaulters.

Speaking at a gathering of members of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Monday, Dr Ishrat Hussain said that though a large number of loan defaulters had taken benefit of the SBP’s recently issued guidelines meant for the recovery of defaulted loans.

However, he added, those who were not paying heed to the guidelines they would be acted against by NAB.

He claimed that SBP’s guidelines yielded positive results enabling commercial banks and financial institutions to recover substantial amount out of their stuck up loans in a brief period of time.

He told the SCCI members that there were some 1600 more loan default cases which yet to be settled.

Responding to the SCCI members’ questions, he said that prudential rules were being prepared for the development of corporate, SMEs and consumer sectors in an effort to provide maximum facilities to the trading community of the country.

Similarly, he added, the process of audit had been simplified to benefit and encourage the trading and business community. Besides, commercial banks and financial institutions, he maintained, had recently been instructed to ensure better loaning facilities to their clients to encourage investment on the part of the country’s private sector.

While replying to grievances voiced by the SCCI’s members belonging to the traders community, Dr Ishrat said that government was making all efforts to facilitate them. On this occasion, he also elicited their cooperation to resolve the issues hampering promotion of conducive business environment in the country.

He said that problems being faced by the traders community of the NWFP might come to an end if the riba-free banking system (yet to take off in the provincial public sector Bank of Khyber) remained a success.

BoK, he maintained, had been granted permission to start Islamic Banking System in one of its branches, expressing the hope that the experience would benefit a large number of people of the NWFP wanted to open up their bank accounts only under Islamic banking system.

He hinted that the issue to allow BoK to convert some of its more branches into Islamic banking system largely depended on the success of the first branch - likely to start functioning with the advent of Ramazan.

“After the success of the first branch, the bank would be allowed to convert some of its more branches into riba-free banking system,” maintained the SBP chief.

Responding to exporters’ grievances, Dr Ishrat Hussain said that the National Bank of Pakistan had established a branch in the Afghan capital of Kabul to facilitate traders and exporters involved in business with Afghanistan.

According to him, NBP would soon open its branches in Kandahar and Jalalabad whereas Habib Bank Limited was also granted permission to open branch in Kabul.

Regarding the establishment of more counters in banks to facilitate the depositors of utility bills, he said that he had recently told the high-ups of Wapda, Sui gas and PTCL to sign bilateral agreement with banks.

Similarly, he said that big businessmen could deposit their utility bills through Internet.