KARACHI: As the country surges ahead with a financial technology (FinTech) revolution, Pakistan’s central bank said on Monday that it has launched laws for Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) as a step toward issuing digital currency by 2025.
The regulations – which have been designed with the help of the World Bank — will also seek to cover other requirements such as outsourcing activities, anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing measures, consumer protection, complaint handling mechanism, oversight and regulatory reporting.
EMIs are non-bank entities that will be licensed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to issue e-Money for the purpose of digital payments.
On Monday, Finance Minister Asad Umar stressed on the need to safeguard financial institutions as “cybersecurity was a growing threat” and termed the launch of the electronic money institutions as a game changer in promoting e-Commerce and a digital economy in the country.
“This new category of institutions will complement the efforts of the government in creating an enabling environment to empower stakeholders in trade and commerce. This will help businesses in improving their productivity and contribute toward positioning the nation for global competition,” he said.
Officials from the SBP concurred. “These landmark regulations are a testament of the SBP’s commitment toward openness, adoption of technology and digitization of our financial system,” Jameel Ahmad, Deputy Governor of SBP, said, adding that the SBP is transforming itself into a modern, digital and technology-oriented bank.
He said that the SBP is working on issuing digital currency by 2025, with the aim to promote financial inclusion and reduce corruption, and inefficiency.
“Our currency will remain the same, but as opposed to existing online payment services — where there is the backing of any financial institution — there will be not [be any] financial institution which we are going to bring in,” Abid Qamar, spokesman of the SBP said dispelling the impression that the central bank was going to issue a cryptocurrency.
Financial experts lauded the initiative as a “landmark in FinTech space”, terming it as the most progressive measure taken by the SBP in years.
“The launch of e-Money regulations…is a key landmark in our FinTech space. This way, Fintechs have been empowered to open and manage accounts themselves. This day is going to mark the inflection point for digital payments in Pakistan. We need this sort of speed and regulatory environment to set the ground for our FinTechs to flourish,” Khurram Schehzad, a senior financial analyst and CEO of Alpha Beta Core — a financial advisory firm, said.
Meanwhile, experts said that the initiative will place Pakistan among the few nations in the world who have adopted e-Money mechanisms. “This initiative is capital intensive and would help Pakistan achieve financial inclusion, especially in the rural sector of the country,” S. M. Arif, a financial and banking technologist, told Arab News.
He added that it would also help small and medium enterprises, the farming community, and rural dwellers gain access to financial instruments. “By enabling this regulations authorities have enabled wider base of population whether Urban or Rural, to have access to finance through these new digital mode of payments from verity of players. This will require proper and frequent education of masses from issuers to make good use of such facilities and safety of these instruments” he said, before quickly adding that “the business model must be made keeping in view the local market requirements and security threats as copy pasting a foreign model may backfire”.
Pakistan to tap into digital currency potential by 2025
Pakistan to tap into digital currency potential by 2025
- Move to address cybersecurity threats faced by institutions, FM Umar says
- Launch of e-Money regulations a key landmark in FinTech space, analysts add
Pakistan plans to launch panda bonds, seeks cooperation of Chinese capital market investors
- The bonds are denominated in China’s currency and will provide Pakistan access to Chinese capital markets
- The finance minister also discusses the next CPEC stage, expected to emphasize business-to-business ties
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb briefed Governor of People’s Bank of China (PBoC) Pan Gongsheng on Pakistan’s plan to launch panda bonds during a meeting in Beijing on Friday in which they discussed a wide range of economic issues.
Panda bonds are sold in China’s domestic market and are denominated in its currency, though they are issued by non-Chinese entities. Pakistan plans to issue these bonds to diversify its funding sources and strengthen its foreign exchange reserves by attracting Chinese investors.
According to local media reports, the initial issuance is expected to raise between $250 million and $300 million, helping Pakistan improve its financial stability amid economic challenges like high inflation and declining forex reserves.
The minister spoke about the government’s economic policy during the meeting in which reprentatives of other financial institutions were also present.
“Underlining Pakistan’s plan to launch panda bonds, Minister for Finance briefed PBoC and other Financial Institutions about the steps taken so far and sought cooperation of the Chinese institutional investors in the capital market to seek benefit from the pro-business policies of the new [Pakistani] Government,” said a statement issued by the finance division after the meeting.
The Pakistani official also highlighted his country’s improving macroeconomic indicators, reforms in tax collection and energy sector and privatization of loss-making state-owned enterprises.
He applauded Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative while reviewing the progress of its flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The minister noted the next phase of CPEC would focus on strengthening business-to-business cooperation, with private sector playing the central role in the development and economic growth.
He arrived in China on Thursday to open talks on power sector structural reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund, two government sources quoted by Reuters.
Aurangzeb is also accompanied by Pakistan’s Power Minster Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari.
According to Reuters, both officials are expected to take up several proposals with the Chinese side, including reprofiling of nearly $15 billion energy sector debt.
Pakistani craftsman strives to preserve antiques in a dying industry
- Based in Rawalpindi’s Bhabra Bazaar, Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi has restored centuries-old bugles, decorative dishes, jars, vases and teapots
- Artefacts at Abbasi’s shop sell for anywhere between $40 to $1,000, many collectors place orders after coming across antiques online
RAWALPINDI: Antiquarian Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi pulled open the shutter of his shop in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi to reveal a small space choke-full of bugles, decorative dishes, jars, vases, teapots, bowls and plates inscribed with ancient motifs.
Located in the historic Bhabra Bazaar, Abbasi’s shop, lit up by a few naked light bulbs, is among a dwindling number of antique restoration workshops in the garrison city. The 71-year-old inherited the craft from his forefathers and set up the shop nearly 40 years ago in 1985, now employing three workers who help him repair, polish and electroplate copper and brass relics to be sold to customers in Pakistan and abroad.
“Since then [1985] I’ve been in this business,” Abbasi told Arab News at his shop earlier this month as he dusted an antique bugle. “We purchase antique items and repair them and polish them and then sell them to our dedicated customers.”
Buyers reach out to him from as far as the UK and US, he added.
Abbasi mainly sources copper and brass items from households and scrap dealers, who scour heaps of imported items that first land at the port in Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi.
“The traders who buy them, they contact us,” the craftsman said. “They are broken items, and we have to repair them and polish and recondition them to the extent that you cannot even tell that this was an old item.”
Antiques at Abbasi’s shop can sell for anywhere between $40 to $1,000, but the art of antique preservation and restoration is now at risk of being lost as the new generation is opting out of the profession.
“The problem is that the craftsmen who used to work [on antiques] are no longer available. Not a lot of attention is given to this craft, The government has also not prioritized training craftsmen,” Abbasi lamented.
“Antiquarians quit the business due to lack of business, and some passed away and the new generation isn’t interested in this line of work.”
Customers and collectors who frequent Abbasi’s shop often place orders after coming across antique items on the Internet.
“I have liked an antiques page [on social media]. I searched for an item on the Internet and told him [Abbasi] about it and he arranged it for me,” Dr. Ahmad Ali, an antique collector, told Arab News. “It was the same thing that I had ordered.”
Shamas Rehman, who has been a collector for over two decades, praised Abbasi’s fine craftsmanship.
“My forefathers were collecting antiques, it was their hobby, and now I have been collecting them since 2003,” he said, “and from wherever we can get the antiques, we buy them, collect them and place them in our homes, and this goes on.”
Government orders police to ensure ceasefire after nine killed over property dispute in northwest Pakistan
- The deadly and ongoing clashes over property dispute broke out on Wednesday
- Kurram has seen conflicts between tribes and religious groups in the past
PESHAWAR: The provincial administration of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday instructed police to take necessary steps to end ongoing clashes in Kurram district over a property dispute, with nine people killed and dozens injured.
Located along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, the area has witnessed deadly conflicts among tribes and religious groups in the past as well as sectarian clashes and militant attacks. A major conflict that began in Kurram in 2007 continued for years before it was ended with the help of a jirga, a traditional assembly of tribal elders.
The current clash over a land dispute broke out on Wednesday and quickly spread to several villages and nearby settlements.
According to an official statement circulated by the KP government, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur directed the district administration and police to ensure a ceasefire.
“No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands or disturb the peace of the area,” Gandapur was quoted as saying. “The administration and police must ensure the rule of government and law in the area. The parties to the dispute are also urged to resolve the property issue through a jirga according to tribal traditions.”
Syed Mir Hassan Jan, the Medical Superintendent at the District Headquarters Hospital in Kurram, said nine bodies and 58 injured people linked to the clashes had been brought to the hospital in the last three days.
The District Police Officer in Kurram, Nisar Ahmad Khan, said sporadic attacks were still ongoing.
“The conflict intensifies at night,” he said. “Sporadic exchange of fire has been going on between the tribes during the past two days.”
Khan said a large number of police and army personnel had been deployed at various locations to prevent clashes.
“The jirga, district administration, army and police have intervened to control the situation,” he added.
The roads leading to Kurram have also been shut down since the clashes began.
“The entrances and exits were closed so that any third-party intervention could be avoided,” the DPO said.
Security forces kill militant in intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwest
- ISPR calls the slain militant a close associate of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a high-value target
- It says he facilitated a suicide bombing that killed seven Pakistani security personnel
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed a militant in an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Friday, adding that he facilitated suicide bombings and was involved in target killings.
KP, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in attacks on security forces, government officials and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks. In a major attack in the province’s Bannu district, ten soldiers were killed when militants launched a coordinated attack on a military cantonment on July 15.
Islamabad blames the recent surge in attacks, including the attack on the army cantonment in Bannu, on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a proscribed armed network, which it says operates out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad.
“Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the North Waziristan district on the reported presence of terrorists,” the ISPR said, adding that during the course of the operation, a militant named Razzaq was killed.
The slain militant was a close associate of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a high-value target, and remained involved in numerous militant activities in the area including the target killing of Malik Sher Muhammad, a local leader, earlier this year apart from facilitating a suicide bombing in March that resulted in the killing of seven soldiers.
The ISPR said a “sanitization operation” was being conducted to eliminate any other militant found in the area, adding that the security forces remained determined to eliminate extremist violence from the country.
Pakistan rejects Modi’s accusations Islamabad using ‘terrorism, proxy war’ to stay relevant
- Modi promised to defeat Pakistan’s ‘unholy plans’ against India on the anniversary of Kargil conflict
- Pakistan says India should reflect on its own targeted assassination campaigns in foreign territories
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan criticized the “belligerent remarks” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday after being accused by him of employing “terrorism” in its eastern neighborhood to advance its strategic interests.
Modi’s comments came at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals in the Himalayan region of Kargil.
Both neighboring states share an uneasy relationship, with India accusing Pakistan of using militant groups as proxies to fight its rule in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both claim in full but rule only in part.
Pakistan has denied New Delhi’s accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination, though it has fought two out of three wars with India over Kashmir.
“Pakistan rejects the Indian Prime Minister’s belligerent remarks made in Drass, Ladakh on 26 July 2024,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“Bravado and jingoism undermine regional peace, and are totally counter-productive for resolution of long-standing disputes between Pakistan and India, especially the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir,” it continued.
The foreign office said such statements by Indian leaders could not deflect international attention from New Delhi’s “heavy-handed approach” to suppress the struggle of Kashmiri people.
“Instead of maligning others for terrorism, India should reflect on its own campaign of orchestrating targeted assassinations, subversion and terrorism in foreign territories,” it added.
The statement also highlighted Pakistan’s ability to safeguard its sovereignty, making a reference to the February 2019 downing of an Indian fighter jet in response to an aerial incursion.
It noted that while Pakistan was ready to “counter India’s aggressive actions,” it was committed to promoting peace and stability in the neighborhood.
Earlier, Modi said he wanted to “tell these patrons of terrorism that their unholy plans will never be successful” against his country.
India-Pakistan relations have been largely frozen as the two countries downgraded their diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in August 2019 after New Delhi scrapped Kashmir’s special status and split it into two federally administered territories.
Ties were further strained after a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir was traced to Pakistan-based militants, prompting India to carry out an airstrike on what it said was a militant base in Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Pakistan said there was credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of people on its soil — accusations that India termed “fake.”
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last month that India would look for a solution to cross-border terrorism, which “cannot be the policy of a good neighbor.”
With input from Reuters
