SBP launches system for ease of doing business

Regulatory approval system will allow banks interact online with central bank


​ Our Correspondent March 28, 2020
PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched a regulatory approval system (RAS) for the submission of cases that relate to foreign exchange policy and operations dealt by the Exchange Policy Department (EPD), SBP and Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FEOD), SBP-BSC respectively.

"SBP RAS, which has become operational from March 24, 2020, provides an online platform to banks to interact with the SBP/SBP-BSC for submission of cases and receiving regulatory decisions," the central bank said in a statement on Friday.

Bringing ease of doing business, according to the SBP, a key feature of the system is to keep business customers updated about the status of their requests routed through banks from the day they are received at the central bank.

Customers will receive system-generated updated status reports at their email address provided by banks, from the time of case submission till completion. Customers will also be able to check the updated status of their cases on the SBP's website anytime.

Using the SBP RAS, banks will electronically submit foreign exchange operations-related cases to FEOD. Paper-based submission of cases by authorised dealers to FEOD has been abolished forthwith.

Similarly, foreign exchange policy-related cases pertaining to the EPD will also be submitted electronically through the SBP RAS. However, "for EPD, in addition to the electronic submission, manual submission of cases through surface mail will continue, for the time being, till further instructions," it said. "SBP RAS is expected to conserve resources and bring efficiency by allowing timely forex regulatory approvals and replacing the paper-based submissions that are prone to logistic and storage issues and unnecessary delays." 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2020.

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