KARACHI: Following the federal government directives, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has opened the “Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund Account, 2022” for the collection of donations and contributions for flood-affected people.
SBP has directed all the commercial and microfinance banks to open the account of the Fund and receive donations and contributions in cash, through cheques, pay orders and demand drafts, at all their branches across the country.
The funds arrived in this account will be administered by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) while the Accountant General Pakistan revenue will maintain accounts of the Fund.
The Government of Pakistan has notified the establishment of a flood relief fund, namely, Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund, 2022, for providing relief and rehabilitation to the affected population due to torrential rains and flash floods in many parts of the country.
The Fund will accept donations and contributions both from domestic and international sources for the aforesaid purpose. Donors have been provided multiple options for making donations and contributions to the Fund.
Overseas donors including overseas Pakistanis may donate to the Fund through wire transfer in the Fund account maintained with their respective bank. They would simply advise their respective banks to transmit the donation amount in the Fund Account by debiting their accounts. The banks shall transmit the consolidated amount of donations received in the Fund account to the SBP on daily-basis through ‘Real Time Gross Settlement’ (RTGS) system.
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Overseas donors may also donate and contribute through Money Service Bureaus (MSBs), Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) like MoneyGram, Western Union and Exchange Houses (EHs) in line with the arrangements in place for receiving home remittances. Banks receiving such remittances in the Fund Account will transfer the consolidated amount through RTGS to the SBP on a daily basis.
In addition, donors and contributors may make their donations and contributions to the fund in cash at any branch of any bank operating in Pakistan, which will transfer the consolidated amount of such donations to the Fund account at SBP through RTGS on a daily basis.
Similarly, donations and contributions may also be made at any of the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation.
The donors and contributors may make their donations and contributions to the Fund by dropping crossed cheques in the name of the Fund in their respective bank’s drop box. All banks will make available a drop box facility at their selected branches for donors where they may drop their crossed cheques in favour of the Fund. The banks shall, accordingly, debit the customer’s account and transfer the amount of such proceeds daily on consolidated basis through RTGS to the SBP.
The donor may also use alternate delivery channels, e.g., internet banking, mobile banking, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and mobile wallets, etc., to donate/ contribute to the Fund account through Inter-Bank Fund Transfer Facility (IBFT)/Raast. The commercial and microfinance banks shall prominently display the IBAN of the Fund at their websites.
SBP has asked the banks to maintain the details of individual donors, i.e., name of donor, the amount of his/ her contribution, mode of payment etc., with them and will be made available to SBP as and when needed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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