Govt. cancels proposed additional incentive scheme for expatriate workers’ remittances

The Government has cancelled the incentive scheme for remittances by migrant workers as the exchange rate has reached a level surpassing the incentives offered, the Central Bank said in a media release on Saturday.

The US dollar was trading at Rs.275 this week. The Central Bank was offering an additional Rs.10 per dollar remitted by migrant workers while the Finance Ministry offered Rs.20 per dollar. The Cabinet separately decided to offer Rs.38 per dollar remitted by migrant workers - all of which were based on the Rs.203 fixed rate to the dollar, all these schemes have been cancelled. The dollar was floated last week, rising to Rs.260 and this week Rs.275.

“In view of these recent developments, the Government has decided not to implement the proposed scheme for additional incentives for remittances by expatriate workers and net earnings of exporters. With the notable upward adjustment in the exchange rate, the conversion of foreign exchange earnings through formal channels by expatriate workers and exporters have already shown a marked increase during March 2022, according to the latest official data,” the statement said.