ISLAMABAD: Dec 4, 2022: In order to avoid misuse of the debt/credit card facility, the government has limited payments through this mode for an individual to $ 30,000 annually.
This condition has been applied to all kinds of payments being made by any person from Pakistan through credit/debit cards to any country in the world for any purpose.
Pakistanis were making unlimited payments across the globe through debit/credit cards and this prodigal approach was one of the reasons to pressurize on Pakistan’s Forex reserve.
Earlier, any person could make payment of any amount in foreign currency through debt/credit cards to any destination and there was undeniable evidence that the facility of payments through debit/ credit cards was being widely misused.
The payment from Pakistan through debit/credit cards to any country of the globe was for service purposes and basically to facilitate the parents for timely and urgent payments of the fee of Pakistani students studying abroad. This facility could also be used for other services like medical treatment abroad, but in most cases, it was being used for commercial transactions.
“We had noted massive misuse of the debt / credit cards payments facility and its huge volume was hurting Pakistan’s economic interests. On the basis of data available of use of debt / credit cards for commercial purposes, Currency Association of Pakistan (CAP) had suggested to the government to apply some limit for payments from Pakistan to abroad through debt / credit cards and we are extremely satisfied that the government has taken a good step and limited payments through debt / credit cards for a person for one year to $ 30,000”, said Malik Bostan Khan, CAP chairman while talking to NEWSMAN on Sunday.
Mr. Bostan added that the volume of payments through debt / credit cards from Pakistan has jumped up to $ 30 million in recent times from $ 2 -3 million a week, which itself speaks of misuse of the facility on large scale.
The CAP chairman also argued that the government’s decision of limiting payments through debt/credit cards to $ 30,000 for one person for one year will force the importers and individuals to make payments for any commercial transaction through the banking channel.
Mr. Bostan Khan said he was convinced that limiting the payments through debt/credit cards will help Pakistan improve its Forex reserves and subsequently help the rupee get more strength against any foreign currencies including US dollar.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has notified the limit of payment of $ 30,000 through debt / credit cards and conveyed its decision in writing to the banks and Forex companies.
Mr. Bostan Khan termed the SBP decision to limit payments through debt/credit cards as a timely move and argued that it will stop flying forex exchange from Pakistan for commercial transactions without compliance with any rules of the central bank of Pakistan. He recalled that the debt/credit cards payments saga had pushed Dubai into a serious financial crisis in 2008-2010 and thanks to the government and SBP they took the abrupt decision to avoid any such situation in Pakistan and limited payments from Pakistan through debit/ credit cards to $ 30000 per person per year.
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