KARACHI : July 25,2023: A State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) notification issued on Tuesday said “Attention of Exchange Companies is invited towards the instructions contained in Chapter 5 of Exchange Companies Manual (ECM), in terms of which they are allowed to export permissible foreign currencies other than US Dollars through cargo/security companies and repatriate equivalent US Dollars in their foreign currency accounts maintained with banks in Pakistan, within five working days from the date of export of foreign currencies”.
The notification added that in order to facilitate customers, a new Para 4 is being inserted in Chapter 5 of ECM as under:
“4. Import of Cash US Dollars through Cargo/Security Companies
Exchange Companies, on need basis, may import cash US Dollars against the value of their export consignments of permissible foreign currencies within five working days, through reputed cargo/security companies. This arrangement shall initially be in place till December 31, 2023 and will be subject to the condition that total cash US Dollars imported by an Exchange Company during this period shall not exceed 50% of the value of its export consignments.
The Exchange Companies shall include such arrangement in their deal with the overseas entity. The system generated deal ticket shall also include particulars of the amount to be imported as cash US Dollars, if any, out of the total export consignment, in addition to those mentioned in Para 3(iii) above.
Exchange Companies, at the time of import of US Dollars Cash through their cargo/security companies, shall give prior written intimation to the Director, Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FEOD), SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC), Karachi, and copy the same to the SBP-BSC staff at SBP-Customs Joint Booth at the designated airports. They will also provide original deal ticket of foreign bank/exchange company clearly showing the amount of cash US Dollars imported, along with Annexure-8, which shall be signed and stamped by SBP-BSC officials at the booth after verification. The foreign government’s customs and/or other export documents in original must also be submitted at SBP-Customs Joint Booth, which shall also be stamped by SBP-BSC officials. A copy of these signed and stamped documents must be kept in record by the exchange company for on-site inspection by the State Bank’s inspection team.
The import consignment shall be verified as per procedure laid down for export of foreign currencies. After verifications, the consignment shall be packed again, sealed and handed over to the cargo/security Company for onward delivery to the exchange company.
Exchange Companies must ensure compliance of all relevant laws and regulations including those of the jurisdiction from where US Dollars cash is being imported.
Exchange Companies shall ensure that all transactions related to import of cash shall be properly reflected in their books of accounts.”
3. Accordingly, Annexure-8 has been introduced and Annexure-5 and Annexure-9 have been revised.
4. The Exchange Companies are advised to bring the above instructions to the notice of all their constituents for meticulous compliance.
