Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch has stated that a timely action and coordinated efforts by the Government of Pakistan and the country’s banks helped restrict the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on flow of remittances to Pakistan as remittances to Pakistan declined by 4.3% (year- on – year) during March – May 2020 compared with World Bank’s forecast of 23% for 2020.
“The decline in case of Bangladesh is 16.7% during March – May 2020 the only comparable regional data available,” he said while addressing a Webinar arranged by DFID-UKAid to mark the Call to Action and the International Day of Family Remittances Action.
Mr. Naveed Kamran Baloch informed the participants that the initial assessment in Pakistan suggested a sharp decline in remittances from April 2020 onwards due to COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the government adopted timely measures to mitigate these adverse impacts by asking the banks to conduct aggressive awareness campaigns to inform the senders and recipient of remittances about available digital/online channels for sending and receiving remittances. The banks were also asked to conduct similar campaigns with their overseas correspondents and further advised to ensure availability of cash in remittance rich areas to cater to the needs of recipient of cash remittances.
The Secretary Finance explained that government instructed the banks to rationalize’ compliance checks with respect to both recipient and sender to ensure swift delivery of remittances.
