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KARACHI, Nov 1: The National Development Finance Corporation (NDFC) stood amalgamated with the National Bank of Pakistan from Thursday (November 1) following the approval by the government.
The government had placed a moratorium in August this year to amalgamate the NDFC with the state-run National Bank.
A total of 25 branches will become a part of the NBP network, which already has more than 1,300 branches nation-wide.
Dilating on the NDFC’s amalgamation with the NBP, NBP president Syed Ali Raza said, “we welcome our new customers and hope that the depositors will have greater confidence in us and will be absolutely secure now, as the NBP is the largest and respected financial institutions in the public sector”.
He said all the NDFC depositors were now the NBP customers and the bank would go an extra mile to provide its new clients the best possible services.
“Our new customers will also be entitled to all facilities and investment schemes availed by our existing clients, which include ATM’s online banking, and no restrictions on amount of withdrawals from the bank,” he said, adding that from November 1, 2001, the depositors will be paid profit on deposits at the rates allowed to all NBP customers.—APP
OUR STAFF REPORTER ADDS FROM LAHORE: Four city branches of the National Development Finance Corporation were renamed as the National Bank of Pakistan branches here on Thursday after the NDFC’s amalgamation with the bank.
“The NBP executives have taken over the charge from the now defunct NDFC officials, whose majority has either been relieved from their service or retained for a few weeks,” Usman Khokhar, former manager of an NDFC branch, told Dawn.
Khokhar and other senior NBP officials denied having any “clue to the future of the NDFC employees”. “We have not been intimated so far whatever decision the government might have taken regarding the NDFC staff,” a senior NBP executive said.
However, some NDFC employees interviewed by this reporter at the Cantonment branch said a majority of the employees had received letters severing them from their services under a golden handshake scheme.
“However, some of the retired employees have been retained to work at their previous positions till further orders against a contract. This has been done for a smooth transfer of charge and record to the new management. Others have been asked to stop coming to work from today,” said an employee at the Cantonment branch.
The staff of former NDFC said some 25 executives and 276 other staff, whose service with the NDFC was less than 10 years, was in a precarious situation. “None of them has so far received letters under the severance scheme. Their (termination) letters have been withheld because instead of getting anything from government on their retirement, most of them would be required to pay from their own pocket to clear their (loan and other) liabilities.
