The country’s remittances may see an increase of 10-20 percent
Malik Bostan, the Chairman of the Exchange Companies
Association of Pakistan (ECAP), is optimistic about a potential 10-20 percent
increase in the country's remittances, thanks to the government's recent
efforts to crack down on hoarders, black market traders, and dollar smugglers.
In an interview with The News, Bostan revealed that foreign exchange companies, which were previously receiving around $5 million per day, are now seeing a 200 percent increase, with daily inflows reaching $15 million due to the crackdown. As a result of these actions, both the interbank and open market exchange rates for the US dollar have significantly decreased and now hover around Rs295. He expressed confidence that if the crackdown persists, the dollar could further decline to below Rs250.
Bank
Alfalah and ACE Money Transfer to facilitate overseas Pakistanis
Bostan also shed light on the uncovered connections between black market operators and certain bank employees, emphasizing that substantial sums of dollars were concealed in bank lockers and used for illegal hawala/hundi transactions in collusion with corrupt bank staff members. He disclosed that multiple FIRs have been filed against the bankers involved in these illicit activities.
Furthermore, Bostan highlighted how the illegal dollar trade had negatively impacted importers and exporters, leading to over-invoicing by importers to send more dollars abroad and under-invoicing by exporters, resulting in a significant portion of their dollars being held in foreign banks. This practice has had adverse effects on Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves.
Bostan also discussed the smuggling of dollars to Afghanistan and stressed the importance of continuous vigilance against all forms of illegal dollar trading to bolster Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves.
New incentives
offered to send remittances via official banking channels
The crackdown, initiated on September 6 following a push from the military leadership, has already led to the deposit of tens of millions of dollars into the country's interbank and open markets. The Pakistani rupee, which had experienced record lows, is now in a recovery phase, with rates at Rs295 in the interbank and Rs296 in the open market. This positive trend is expected to persist as long as the crackdown against the illegal dollar trade remains in effect.
Bostan noted that he had requested Army Chief General Asim Munir to take action against hoarders, black market traders, and dollar smugglers, as the majority of people were previously resorting to black market dealers before the crackdown.
Source: The News