Representational image. PHOTO: REUTERS
“The campaign will kick-start from Britain and move on to cover European and Gulf countries,” stated Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfikar Bukhari in an exclusive interview to APP. “It is aimed at convincing overseas Pakistanis to purchase ‘Pakistan Banao Certificates’ (PBC), which are dollar-denominated retail instruments for expats offering them lucrative incentives.” The overseas Pakistanis, possessing foreign bank accounts, could encash these certificates in dollars or rupees but redemption in dollars before first year will lead to a levy of 1%, he said.
Informing that the certificates would be exempted from withholding tax and deduction of Zakat, the PM aide reaffirmed that it was a great investment opportunity for overseas Pakistanis.
Quoting figures, he revealed that the instruments were entitled to 6.25% and 6.75% interest rate per annum on $5,000 denomination without upper limit having three and five-year maturity periods, respectively.
The opportunity was being extended by Pakistan all across the globe, he claimed.
“I will be travelling to the United Kingdom on February 6 to formally launch the promotional campaign,” Bukhari disclosed. “Then I will move to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and other countries to apprise Pakistani diaspora about its benefits to them and their country.”
He revealed that an awareness session of a similar campaign ‘Return in Rupee’ was also on the cards. The special assistant requested expats to redeem the bond in Pakistani rupee following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s appeal to uplift the value of rupee.
He elaborated that other federal ministers, during their foreign visits, would enlighten potential customers regarding the benefits of the certificate to engage them for development of the country. Terming the economic-friendly initiative first of its kind, he said that it allowed an individuals to invest as opposed to Sukuk and Euro bonds issued in the last five years.
Differentiating it from previous two bonds, he detailed that, for those bonds, the customer had to produce KYC documents which further complicated the process.
“The applicant can buy PBCs online by fulfilling the condition of NICOP and displaying valid documentation,” he reiterated and stressed the need for expanding it further for hedge and pension funds to steer foreign investment.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2019.
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