CEO rejects rumour about bank

Bashir A Tahir Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dhabi Group said on Friday that the group is one of the biggest investor in Pakistan with minimum investment of over $10 billion, employing more than 18,000 Pakistan nationals. He especially flew from Abu Dhabi to address a press conference pertaining to some rumours distorting the image of the group.
The CEO Dhabi Group categorically rejected the rumours that the government is seizing foreign currency accounts and bank lockers, saying that the government has seen the results of seizing dollar accounts in 1998 and it would not repeat this fruitless exercise. The accountholders of the bank can exchange rupee for dollar of as much amount as they want to.
He said that the financial turmoil in America affects countries in Europe, but it will not have any particular effect on Pakistan because the economy of the country is mostly agrarian. But Pakistan has its own peculiar problems like security, law and order.
"I am not in Pakistan to lodge a protest with the government that who has floated this rumour against the group. We will also not take any action against the people who have floated these rumours to harm the group's reputation. I just wanted to have an interaction with the media and to tell them that the group is serving Pakistan in the shape of huge investment," Bashir A Tahir stated.
He said that the group would continue its investment plan for Pakistan, as the group has not budged from its plans even in the worst scenario. During the last board meeting at Abu Dhabi, the chief of the group said that the Pakistan is my second home and we will carryout our investment plans without any hesitation.
Responding to a query, he said that BCCI was the only bank, which paid 92 percent cash to the depositors, which is unprecedented in the world. The BCCI was serving the country and was dislodged through an international conspiracy.
He said that the objective journalism is that if you are publishing some thing against a group or an individual must take his viewpoint to make your story authentic. The rumours only damage the economic fundamentals of a country and this is no service to Pakistan.
The group intends to invest an amount of $0.5 billion initially in power sector in collaboration with Gulf UAE investors to meet the power needs of energy deficient Pakistan.
Bashir A Tahir stated that the Bank Alfalah stands as one of the fastest growing financial institutions in Pakistan, expanding on local as well as International frontiers and working on the most modern dynamics of customer care and asset growth in banking. Bank Alfalah has recently unfolded a new phase of expansion by planning 49 new branches across Pakistan in order to meet the growing demand of reliable and innovative banking products.
Bank Alfalah is now ranked as the fifth largest bank in Pakistan within only ten years of its operations. To this date, the Bank has become the leading credit cards brand, and has innovative consumer products by redefining market dynamics. At present, the Bank has 225 branches across 88 cities in Pakistan.
He said that the Bank Alfalah is working on an extremely sound financial rooting and is in a progressive mode. Bank Alfalah for the year ended June 2008 has shown remarkable growth.
The deposits have grown to Rs 287.7 billion against Rs 270.6 billion in June 2007, the Advances have grown to Rs 184.9 billion from Rs 158.6 billion, the Foreign Trade business has increased to Rs 150 billion from Rs 131 billion and profit before provisions and taxation has increased to Rs 3.28 billion from Rs 2.4 billion registering an impressive growth of 35 percent during the period under review.
He said that the Bank Alfalah is backed by an extremely strong investment commitment of the Abu Dhabi Group which has experienced growth on extraordinary scale across the Middle East and has Investments in Pakistan in excess over US $10 billion.
The Consortium is headed by the visionary HH Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan who has always demonstrated keen interest to invest in Pakistan. Alongside Bank Alfalah, the Group's other investments comprise United Bank Limited, Alfalah Securities (Pvt) Limited, Alfalah Insurance Company Limited, Alfalah GHP Investment Management Ltd, UBL Insurers Company Limited, Wateen Telecom (Pvt) Ltd and lastly, Taavun (Pvt) Limited (a real estate joint venture between Dhabi Group and Government of Punjab) in which Dhabi Group has announced an investment of $1.2 billion.