ISLAMABAD: Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs on Tuesday approved the budgetary proposals of the Finance Division that had sought an allocation of Rs18.177 billion for various development projects of the ministry under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2019-20.
The meeting was held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Farooq H Naik.
Earlier, the committee expressed its displeasure over the absence of Finance Secretary Younus Dagha and Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Dr Jahanzeb Khan, saying that such attitude from top officials was not acceptable.
Discussing the agenda items, Senator Engr Rukhsana Zuberi pointed out that the State Bank of Pakistan was not cooperating with the young freelancers who are earning foreign exchange reserves.
She said the government should allow such freelancers to open their accounts in different financial instruments, including Paypal, to ensure smooth and free of charge transfer of foreign remittances.
She also suggested the government to take special measures to increase the export of services in information technology and software sectors, as the export currently stands at $1 billion despite having a potential of earning over $5 billion.
An official from the Ministry of Finance informed the committee that the government had already taken such measures and now the young freelancers of the country are receiving their foreign remittances through banking channels without additional charges.
“During last month, the country received $120 million through such remittances,” he said. “The government is also planning to organise training sessions in various cities for young freelancers so that they could be made aware of processes involved in receiving foreign remittances.”
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