LAHORE – Punjab Information Technology (IT) Minister Dr. Arslan Khalid has urged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to revisit its decision to revoke the payment of $34 Million to international service providers.
In a statement on Saturday, Dr. Arslan Khalid stated that the Pakistan’s IT industry has tremendous potential to increase our exports, contribute to economic growth, create employment opportunities, earn foreign exchange and catapult Pakistan to the forefront of the world. SBP’s decision could be a serious blow to the nascent IT industry already struggling to take off. This is likely to jeopardise the future prospects of IT in Pakistan and the damage maybe devastating and long term.
“If SBP’s decision to revoke the $34 Million payment to international service providers isn’t revised, the international companies will put Pakistan off their radars in making IT investments in Pakistan leading to job loss and a severe trust deficit that will take a very long time to heal ,” stated the minister.
“Pakistan is struggling to embrace IT as part of the vision of Digital Pakistan and the IT sector will be needing tremendous support from all the stakeholders especially the State to allow it to benefit all the social and economic sectors,” Dr Arslan Khalid maintained.
The IT minister further added that the non-payment of outstanding dues to the major service providers will seriously impact the users in Pakistan as they will be unable to access digital banking, e-Commerce, e-Education, e-Health etc which will be a massive blow to the e-Governance.
“In this age of social media, any outage of digital services in the country would tarnish the image of Pakistan on the international level, hence such a situation must be avoided at all costs,” Dr Arslan Khalid added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has suspended the Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) mechanism, due to which the annual payment of $34 Million from mobile companies to the international service providers remains suspended.
This unfortunate development will force the consumers to add Credit Card/Debit Card details in order to download/upload international Apps from the Google Play store. A majority of cell phone users will be deprived of Google services as the credit/debit card facility is limited to a relatively small number of customers. "I request the senior management of State Bank of Pakistan to immediately reverse their decision in the larger interest of Pakistan and the nascent IT industry", Minister stated.
Daily Pakistan Global Web Desk
KARACHI - Following are the foreign currency exchange rates for US Dollar, Saudi Riyal, UK Pound Sterling, U.A.E. Dirham, European Euro, and other foreign currencies in Pakistan open market on February 03, 2023 (Friday).
Source: Forex Association of Pakistan. (last update 09:00 AM)
Currency | Symbol | Buying | Selling |
US Dollar | USD | 272.25 | 273.25 |
Euro | EUR | 297.32 | 297.65 |
UK Pound Sterling | GBP | 333.31 | 333.61 |
U.A.E Dirham | AED | 73.03 | 73.33 |
Saudi Riyal | SAR | 71.49 | 71.80 |
Australian Dollar | AUD | 188.9 | 191.3 |
Bahrain Dinar | BHD | 712.73 | 720.73 |
Canadian Dollar | CAD | 200.95 | 203.15 |
China Yuan | CNY | 39.67 | 40.07 |
Danish Krone | DKK | 39.11 | 39.51 |
Hong Kong Dollar | HKD | 34.19 | 34.54 |
Indian Rupee | INR | 3.28 | 3.39 |
Japanese Yen | JPY | 2.5 | 2.54 |
Kuwaiti Dinar | KWD | 877.76 | 886.76 |
Malaysian Ringgit | MYR | 62.83 | 63.43 |
New Zealand Dollar | NZD | 173.25 | 175.25 |
Norwegians Krone | NOK | 26.76 | 27.09 |
Omani Riyal | OMR | 696.08 | 704.08 |
Qatari Riyal | QAR | 73.62 | 74.32 |
Singapore Dollar | SGD | 204 | 206 |
Swedish Korona | SEK | 25.61 | 25.91 |
Swiss Franc | CHF | 291.69 | 294.19 |
Thai Bhat | THB | 8.15 | 8.3 |
KARACHI – The price of a single tola of 24-karat gold in Pakistan is Rs 212,900 on Friday. The price of 10 grams of 24k gold was recorded at Rs182,530.
Likewise, 10 grams of 22k gold were being traded for Rs167,318 while a single tola of 22-karat gold was being sold at Rs 195,157.
Note: The gold rate in Pakistan is fluctuating according to the international market so the price is never been fixed. The below rates are provided by local gold markets and Sarafa Markets of different cities.
City | Gold | Silver |
Lahore | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Karachi | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Islamabad | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Peshawar | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Quetta | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Sialkot | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Attock | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Gujranwala | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Jehlum | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Multan | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Bahawalpur | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Gujrat | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Nawabshah | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Chakwal | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Hyderabad | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Nowshehra | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Sargodha | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Faisalabad | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Mirpur | PKR 212,900 | PKR 2,420 |
Copyright ©2023. Reproduction of this website's content without express written permission from 'Daily Pakistan' is strictly prohibited.