Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the country’s first National Challenger Bank (NCB). The bank will facilitate the transfer of remittances through digital channels from across the world.
PM Khan issued the directives to his special assistant Zulfiqar Bukhari.
The premier directed Bukhari to make policies to facilitate overseas Pakistanis by providing maximum facilities of health, education and other services to their families living in the country.
“Overseas Pakistanis are assets of Pakistan,” the Prime Minister said, addressing a meeting on remittances at the Prime Minister office.
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What is the National Challenger Bank?
NCB is a platform which ensures cost-effective and hassle-free remittance transactions through digital channels and discourages illegal means such as Hundi and Hawala.
It should be mentioned here that ever since the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has come into power, Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged Overseas Pakistanis to remit through legal channels. Since the new government came into power, the country’s remittances grew 12.5 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year of 2018/19.
“Incentives to banks, promotion of mobile wallet scheme and withholding tax concession on remittances noticeably improved the inflows into the country,” State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Tariq Bajwa said.
He believed that remittance target of $22 billion for the current fiscal year should be easily achieved.
Imran Khan has urged Overseas Pakistanis to remit through legal channels….hahaha…. irony