ISLAMABAD: General Secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), Zafar Paracha, in a statement on Monday, said that the inflow of remittances into the country through exchange companies has seen a rise of 10 to 15% following the recent crackdown.

Paracha said the crackdown launched by authorities has proved to be the most effective tool to bolster Pakistan’s foreign reserves, said a press release issued here on Monday.

“We’ve seen a substantial rise in remittances flowing into the country through exchange companies, whose daily exchange values have been increased to $50 million after the recent crackdown that helped us recover more than $900 million in just a couple of months from the culprits dealing in the black market,” he added.

The black market forex trade, or, in other words, remittances flowing into the country through unregulated money operators like hawala and hundi, has caused a massive loss of more than $4 billion to Pakistan in FY23. Its foreign reserves plummeted from $12.9 billion to an alarming $12.6 billion and are even decreasing further due to the black-market flow of remittances.

“The ongoing countrywide crackdown against unlawful money operators gives hope to the nation’s depleting foreign reserves, although the dire need to bring awareness among overseas Pakistanis to abstain from using unregulated channels remains there,” Paracha further said.

Commenting on the issue of black market forex trade, Rashid Ashraf, CEO of ACE Money Transfer, said, “Most Pakistani diasporas turn towards informal channels like hawala/hundi so as to avoid taxes and formal procedures, which they wrongly consider to be complex and tricky.

Consequently, the money that flows through unregulated channels assists various crimes and terror financing while putting Pakistani expats’ hard-earned money at stake,” he mentioned.

Ashraf further added that to reinforce declining remittance inflows to Pakistan from abroad, ACE Money Transfer has entered into a collaboration with Bank Alfalah through which expatriates will be provided with seamless, secure, and swift financial services.

“Our partnership with Bank Alfalah is a strategic move that’s poised to reinforce the declining remittance inflows to Pakistan from abroad,” Rashid Ashraf said, adding that the collaboration with Bank Alfalah will revolutionize the remittance landscape in Pakistan. “This partnership signifies our shared commitment to providing expatriates with seamless, secure, and swift financial services. Together, we are dedicated to empowering our customers and contributing to the economic prosperity of Pakistan by enhancing the convenience and reach of remittance services across the country,” he said. “Pakistani expats can pay utility bills and send money home in the form of quick airtime top-ups to their loved ones, enhancing the user experience by integrating more convenient features into the remittance process by using the ACE Money Transfer mobile app.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 18 2023

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