ECC okays Rs30bn of Rs58.2bn spent last fiscal on remittances initiative

ISLAMABAD: Out of the total outstanding claims of Rs58 billion for incentivising increased remittances from abroad, the government has approved Rs30 billion under the Telegraphic Transfer Charges Incentives Scheme (TTCIS). The government also accorded approval for rollout of a new energy vehicle policy and extension of grants-in-aid for the Quaid-i-Azam University.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Cabinet was informed there were three home remittances incentive schemes being executed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) under the scheme titled Pakistan Remittance Initiatives (PRI).

The TTCIS, launched in 1985, was aimed at providing a zero-cost/free send model for the sender and receiver on eligible remittance transactions. The SBP had fixed volume of home remittances received during FY2024-25 at $38.3 billion. An amount of Rs64.9 billion was allocated for TTCIS. But owing to an increase in remittances, TT charges reimbursement claims exceeded the allocated budget and the claims could not be cleared during the last fiscal year.

The SBP has informed outstanding claims amounting to Rs58.2 billion are still outstanding for the last fiscal year.

Under the IMF programme, there is bar on provision of supplementary grants, so the Ministry of Finance was left with no other options but to provide Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) for meeting arising requirement. The remaining outstanding amount will be released in subsequent quarters in the current fiscal year.