Provident funds

DOHA, QATAR: This is with reference to a report in your newspaper by Farooq Tirmizi titled “Are provident funds worth your while?” (August 9). The writer’s assertion that the provident fund rules should be reformed may be a valid one in that the rules were promulgated in 1995. However, the ground realities have not changed a lot. For corporate employees, the intended beneficiaries of the regulation, the provident fund balance along with any other retirement benefits represents the only savings of their working lives.

Pakistani regulators assume that the average person will limit his exposure to the country’s casino-like (read risky) stock market. If a sane person has faith in the capital markets and wants to invest, he can do so by opting in the regulated occupational savings schemes offered by the various asset management companies in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2010.