ISLAMABAD: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir says, the demand for cash has increased in Pakistan as people do not want to come in the tax net.
On Tuesday in a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Baqir said, “People are withdrawing money from banks and they do not want to come in the tax net,”
Keeping the information confidential, he refused to uncover the names of the people or the institutions that were bringing in the hot foreign money.
It was Baqir’s inaugural appearance at any parliamentary forum.
The demand for cash was increasing which increased the printing cost and other than that he also mentioned that withholding tax on banking transactions was also another reason for the increasing demand for cash.
Comparing the money circulation of the last year with the current year, on February 21, the money in circulation stood at Rs524 billion, higher by 47% or Rs167 billion as compared to the same period of last year.
The governor also spoke at length about inflation, hot foreign money, high interest rates and exchange rate policy.
