Exchange firms eye rebate on remittances

KARACHI: Exchange companies have been assured by the State Bank of support to get rebate on remittances like the banks are being paid for it, said a press release issued by the Forex Association of Pakistan on Thursday.

A delegation of foreign exchange companies met central bank officials on Wednesday to express its views over the recent changes in the Foreign Exchange Manual.

“We told the State Bank that allowing banks to provide foreign exchange to travellers up to $2,100 may create dollar shortage in banks as it happened in 1998,” Bostan told Dawn.

He said the banks are getting 25 Saudi riyal on minimum remittance of $200. If the exchange companies are provided with this amount, the remittances would be much higher, he said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2019

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Comments (6) Closed

Mansur Ul Haque

Aug 02, 2019 09:10am

Give them rebate. We need foreign exchange. If we swap dollars from open market that will also have some cost.

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SHAHID SATTAR

Aug 02, 2019 09:47am

Manipulators of the first degree. Please don't succumb to the piousness shown by them. It is just to hoodwink the policymakers and the public in general. No one among them follows the basic guidelines set up for them about maintaining the standard rates for purchase and sales of the foreign currencies by the State Bank of Pakistan. They overcharge with impunity and give a lower rate to the sellers. They don't display the rates as per SBP requirements dealing with each customer in a hushed voice so that it is not heard by any other person who might be interested in a similar deal.

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Vikas

Aug 02, 2019 10:15am

Ah so lovely reading about Pakistan’s largest export. The Uneducated and Unskilled labour. A commodity whose demand is rising and supply around the world falling. As the world educated and skills it’s populace Pakistan stays in the competition wisely and opts out of education. Brilliant plan. It fills the gap of this product almost single handedly and turns it into a resource spinner. What an amazing strategy by keeping children out of schools for future and guaranteeing them forex earning jobs abroad.

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Shazad

Aug 02, 2019 11:45am

This rebate policy encourages banks to misclassify export proceeds as remittances. This is especially true in the case of IT exports.

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Fkhan

Aug 02, 2019 09:47pm

@Vikas, what about poor Indian children who have to work to feed their families.Do you know how many millions are out of schools????

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M. Saeed

Aug 03, 2019 12:16am

We should revisit our own history and introduce Bonus Vouchers type scheme for the Home Remittances.