KARACHI: Currency exchange companies on Monday called the State Bank of Pakistan to scrap the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) and give exchange rebate straight to remitter to raise remittances.
An urgent meeting was summoned by the central bank with Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) officials to debate problems linked to dollar price in kerb market and workers remittances reported The News.
The fall in the price of the dollar was welcomed by SBP at the meeting. A statement issued said SBP’s executive director, Syed Irfan Ali agreed with ECAP’s secretary general Zafar Paracha’s recommendation and pledged one rupee will be given per US dollar to the foreign remitter directly.
ECAP called for the scrapping of PRI at the banks and said foreign institutions were profiting via this initiative because of rebate and commission.
They said a mechanism should be setup where the importer is required to declare their import on market rate instead of indulging in under-invoicing.
Not only would this mechanism bring a decrease in illegal business, hundi/hawala, under-invoicing and other illegal practices but would aid in raising revenues, said ECAP.
Also, it requested exchange companies be given permission to render remittance/currency facilities to trade-related businesses.
It added SBP and the authorities need to impose a ban on smuggling of US dollars to Dubai via Pakistan-Afghanistan and restrict the currency exchange companies to only receive currencies having authorization from origin countries.
It backed the embargo enforced by the Dubai government and said it shouldn’t be reversed.
