QUETTA: The State Bank of Pakistan has cancelled the licence of a Quetta-based currency exchange company and its 14 branches in Balochistan.

The company was registered under the name of Karwan Currency Exchange Company and was issued a licence in July 2004.

SBP officials have confirmed the licence was cancelled after reports that the company and its branches were not running their business in line with rules and regulations.

The decision was taken after checking the company’s record, audit reports and other documents which proved the violations.

“We were running our foreign exchange business under the SBP licence for the last 17 years, but all of sudden the central bank cancelled it and ordered us to stop the business,” said the owner Syed Zahoor Agha.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Agha, however, confessed that some mistakes were made but justified by saying that the SBP’s regulations were complicated which led to some irregularities.

He said the cancellation of licence would affect over 300 families who were directly or indirectly linked with the business.

Mr Agha said his company had applied for a new ‘B’ category licence but the SBP was yet to make a decision despite the passage of around two years.

Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Abdullah Achakzai said the SBP rules and regulations were very complicated and needed to be relaxed for issuing licences.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023