The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has granted permission to commercial banks to assist foreign missions, embassies, and consulates functioning in Pakistan in remitting cash collected in Pakistani Rupees as fees for different services to their respective authorities in their respective countries.
According to a circular issued by the SBP, in order to make it easier for foreign embassies/consulates operating in Pakistan to remit various fees collected in PKR accounts to their respective ministries/authorities in their home countries, it has been decided to grant general permission to Authorized Dealers for remitting such fees.
The authorised dealers may authorise the remittance after executing essential transaction due diligence and convincing themselves as to the genuineness of the request through the study of underlying papers, according to the circular.
Regulations on profit and head office expenditure remittance by foreign company branches have recently been changed, and the function of processing such requests has been transferred to authorised dealers for shareholder convenience.
Royalty, Franchise, and Technical Fee (RFT) payment instructions have been updated to reflect the current business situation. Furthermore, the function of processing requests for acknowledgment of RFT agreements has been transferred to authorised dealers, together with clear rules in the area, in order to improve convenience of doing business.
In recent years, the central bank has implemented a variety of initiatives and regulations to help businesspeople and foreigners. As a result, remittance inflows have been growing in the country, while businesspeople and foreigners are being helped to reduce external remittances.
