KARACHI: In two circulars announced on Wednesday, the State Bank of Pakistan has made some small changes to its Incentive Scheme for Marketing of Home Remittances, which had been effective since January of this year.
In Circular Letter No 11 of 2020 and Circular Letter No 12 of 2020, issued by the Exchange Policy Department, and addressed to exchange companies and microfinance banks, the existing bank transfer charges for transactions between $100 and $200 has been increased from SAR (Saudi Riyal) 10 to SAR 20.
Previously, the marketing reimbursement scheme for the marketing of home remittances was set at Rs1 against $1 of a remittance amount beyond 15pc growth over last year.
Now, it is set as a tiered scale, so Rs0.50 on 5pc growth, Rs0.75 on 10pc growth and Rs1 on 15pc growth.
The two circulars follow earlier circulars issued by the SBP on December 6, 2019, that aimed to encourage through promotion of home remittances through formal channels.
To that end, the federal government introduced a performance based scheme for banks, microfinance banks, and exchange companies to promote and market home remittance products and services, effective from January 01, 2020.
According to Circular Letter No 15 of 2019 and Circular Letter No 16 of 2019, banks, microfinance banks, and exchange companies could get marketing expenses reimbursed, if home remittances exceeded 15pc growth in calendar year 2020 compared to levels achieved in calendar year 2019.
The institutions would be reimbursed Rs1 for each incremental dollar mobilized over 15pc growth.
It was also decided that the amount of home remittance transaction between $100 and $200Â would be reimbursed at SAR 10, while the amount of home remittance transaction above $200 would be reimbursed at SAR 20.
