PACRA, a renowned credit rating company has harmonized the Insurer Financial Strength rating of Pak-Qatar General Takaful Limited (PQGTL) at ‘A+’ with Stable Outlook. The rating assigned signifies high capacity to meet policyholder obligations and contractual obligations reflected by the company’s adequate capitalization and liquidity profile.… Continue

Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Limited (SCBPL) announced the appointment of Saadya Riaz as Head of Consumer, Private and Business Banking (CPBB). Saadya has been associated with Standard Chartered (SC) for 17 years. Prior to this appointment, she has held a number of key management positions with the Bank and for the past five years she has led Affluent Client Segments, at a global level based out of Singapore.… Continue

In light of the emergency Monetary Policy (MPC) meeting held on April 7th, 2022, the next regular meeting of the MPC is now scheduled for May 23rd, 2022.

In line with the advance half-yearly calendar that the SBP has been announcing on a rolling basis since May 2021, the schedule for MPC meetings during the rest of calendar year 2022 is envisaged as follows:

• Monday, May 23rd, 2022
• Thursday, July 7th, 2022
• Monday, August 22nd, 2022
• Monday, October 10th, 2022
• Friday, November 25th, 2022

The advance calendar of MPC meetings for the first half of calendar year 2023 will be shared at the time of the November 2022 MPC meeting.… Continue

TPL Insurance Limited, a subsidiary of TPL Corp Limited, is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a Share Subscription Agreement and a Shareholders Agreement with Finnfund, a major development financier and impact investor, investing in responsible and profitable businesses in the developing countries.… Continue

Pakistan’s largest digital bank, Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited (MMBL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IWCCI) to promote and strengthen access to Digital Financial Solutions (DFS) for women borrowers and micro-entrepreneurs.… Continue

The State Bank of Pakistan released its second quarterly report of payment systems for the fiscal year 2021-22 today covering the period October – December 2021. The report presents an encouraging picture of the adoption of digital banking in the country.… Continue

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US$ 17,028.1 million as of 08-April-2022. The break-up of the foreign reserves position is as under:-

• Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan: US$ 10,849.6 million
• Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks    : US$ 6,178.5 million
• Total liquid foreign reserves                 : US$ 17,028.1 million

During the week ended on 08-April -2022, SBP reserves decreased by US$ 470 million to US$ 10,849.6 million, mainly due to external debt repayments.… Continue

As per decision of the Federal Government the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will observe six days working week with the following office hours during the month of Ramadan-ul-Mubarak, which shall also be followed by all banks, Development Finance Institutions and Microfinance Banks:

Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm with prayer break from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm whereas on Fridays office hours will be from 8.00 am to 1:00 pm without break.… Continue

Faysal Bank Limited, the best emerging Islamic bank in Pakistan & TPL Life Insurance (Window Takaful Operations) (TPLL), Pakistan’s 1st InsurTech, have joined hands to offer “Women Takaful Coverage” to Faysal Islami Amal Women’s Account Holders.

Faysal Bank Limited & TPL Life Insurance (Window Takaful Operations) have taken a step towards further strengthening their existing partnership and introduced a Women specific Takaful coverage proposition for Faysal Islami Amal Women’s Account holders which is best in class across the industry.… Continue

Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan’s leading financial institutions has joined hands with Jubilee general insurance, the country’s premier insurance solution provider to form a strategic alliance that will enable a digitized pathway for customers to avail insurance through AlfaMall. With customers rapidly moving towards digital platforms, this partnership will facilitate users and their ability to avail insurance solutions in a simple manner.… Continue

Mr. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has expressed his profound disappointment and concerns over an unexpected and massive hike in the key policy rate, i.e. 250 bps by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan. He said that the business, industry and trade community is shocked; and, clueless at the same time on how to cope with its fallout on economic activities, viability of doing business in Pakistan and inevitable adverse impacts on exports – in the absence of any governmental support.… Continue

Mr. Asif Peer, CEO and Managing Director at Systems Limited, and Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO at 1LINK, joined hands to accelerate business transformation efforts through informed data-driven technology, contributing to the vision of ‘Digital Pakistan’.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of the senior management from Systems Limited and 1LINK including Mr.… Continue

President of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Salman Aslam has expressed concern over the sudden increase in interest rate by SBP by 2.5% and setting the policy rate at 12.25%. He said that the unexpected meeting and decision of the Monetary Policy Committee would cause irreparable damage to the economy.… Continue

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US$ 17,476.9 million as of 01-April-2022. The break-up of the foreign reserves position is as under:-

Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan: US$ 11,319.2 million

Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks    : US$ 6,157.7 million

Total liquid foreign reserves                 : US$ 17,476.9 million

During the week ended on 01-April -2022, SBP reserves decreased by US$ 728 million to US$ 11,319.2 million, largely due to debt repayment and Government payment pertaining to settlement of an arbitration award related to a mining project.… Continue

Bank Alfalah has partnered with Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) to facilitate digital payments and collections for freelancers. Under the partnership, PAFLA will acquire the ability to enable freelancers in selling services globally through an integration with Alfa Payment Gateway. This platform will facilitate a robust digital payments and collection mechanism through support from Bank Alfalah’s strong and reliable infrastructure.… Continue

Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s leading Islamic bank has recently signed an agreement with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the largest integrated gas company in North Central Pakistan, to enable digitalization of consumer bill collection via the Bank’s state-of-the-art Transaction Banking Solution (eBiz+).… Continue

Meta is collaborating with the National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), a subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to train and up-skill Pakistani women entrepreneurs in order to foster sustainability and resilience of women-led businesses in the country.… Continue

Mashreq Bank, one of the leading financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates, has appointed Alexander Raiff as its new Group Head of Technology, Transformation and Information, starting on 1st April 2022.

Alexander is a seasoned technology professional with over 30 years of experience; noteworthy is his role as Chief Information Officer in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank from 2012 to 2020.… Continue

Mr. Muhammad Afaq Khan has been appointed as the new President of MCB Islamic Bank Limited by the Board of Directors of the Bank. Mr. Raza Mansha, Chairman of the Board of MCB Islamic Bank Ltd., welcomed Mr. Afaq Khan as its new President and said that this marks a new beginning in MCB Islamic Bank’s business strategy and efforts towards potential market leadership.… Continue

BankIslami, the country’s leading Islamic financial institution, sponsored one of the most popular festival dedicated to food and entertainment which came full circle with its final event in Lahore from 25th to 27th March. The Lahore Eat festival 2022 is a yearly attraction that showcases a variety of local, foreign and fusion cuisines for visitors.… Continue

The Islamic Banking Industry (IBI) has reached new peaks during CY21 as its assets surpassed the 5 trillion mark to reach Rs5,577 billion with the highest ever increase of Rs1,308 billion, whereas deposits reached at Rs4,211 billion with an increase of Rs822 billion.… Continue

The 73rd Annual General Meeting of National Bank was held today at Karachi and was also open for participation through online electronic means. The meeting was attended by the Chairman Mr. Zubyr Soomro and the President Mr. Arif Usmani along with other Directors and senior management of the Bank as well as a large number of the shareholders.… Continue

• State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has granted Careem Pay with In Principle Approval (IPA) for an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in Pakistan
• The license will enable Careem Pay to offer e-wallet and payment services to its 9+ million Customers, 800,000 Captains and 3000+ merchants in Pakistan
• Careem has launched Careem Pay, its fintech affiliate, in Pakistan as an independent entity which will be led by Noman Khursid as its General Manager
• Careem Pay plans to invest $50 million to leapfrog the fintech ecosystem in Pakistan
  

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has granted Careem Pay with an In-Principle-Approval (IPA) for an Electronic Money Institution license (EMI).… Continue

The IPG Group Pakistan, a leading sports marketing and international events company and a renowned name in remittance initiative events is facilitating the launch of Roshan Digital Account (RDA) drive for overseas Pakistanis to promote new investment opportunities in Pakistan in collaboration with renowned banks on an international platform.… Continue

· Banking sector spread for Feb’22 stood at 4.61% – the highest in 16 months as interest rate hikes in the last quarter of the previous year began to affect loans portfolio. More interestingly, the spread on the fresh portfolio stood at 5.25% – the highest since Mar’20.… Continue