June 11, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1427

KARACHI, June 10: The opening of accounts in banks may become easier as the State Bank and the Pakistan Banks Association have decided to provide account opening forms in Urdu.

This was decided in a joint meeting of the PBA and the SBP on Friday presided over by SBP Governor Shamshad Akhtar.

The meeting also decided to simplify the terms and conditions for opening of bank accounts. The banks will not only publish these conditions in larger font but also in Urdu for removing the grievances of the public.

To create awareness among the general public about the new system of reporting to the Credit Information Bureau, the State Bank and the PBA will publish advertisements in the press.

The meeting was informed that 3,424 branches were providing real time online banking facility to the accountholders as against 7,242 branches of 41 banks operating in the country, which means that 47.27pc branches have online banking. It was emphasized that the volume and value of online banking transactions needed to be enhanced.

The PBA expressed its concern over the imposition of central excise duty on services and increase in withholding tax on cash withdrawals in the budget 2006-07. While agreeing to a five per cent tax, the association suggested that instead of central excise duty a surcharge on income might be levied through income tax on the identified services in the Finance Bill 2006-07.

The PBA has assured the State Bank that the banks would try to sparingly use the SBP discount window. It also assured that there would be no delay in reporting of forex and money market transactions by banks to the central bank.

The SBP chief asked the PBA to ensure that the banks should prominently disclose their lending and deposit rates.