Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said on Sunday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s suggestion to overseas Pakistanis to use Hundi system for transfer of money to Pakistan was violation of national as well as international laws.
Reacting to the PTI chief’s suggestions, the finance minister said dissuading overseas Pakistan from sending foreign currency to Pakistan through proper channels was aimed to inflict losses to the country’s economy.
He also criticised Khan’s statements regarding non-payment of taxes saying that the announcement made by the PTI chief for not paying taxes was aimed at creating economic anarchy in the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that PTI chairman Imran Khan in his speech to protestors on Saturday had suggested overseas Pakistanis to use Hundi system for transfer of money to Pakistan. Suggesting illegal action to the Pakistanis living abroad, Imran asked them to stop sending money to their families through banks (remittances) and use Hundi system for transfer of money to Pakistan.
Hawala or Hewala also known as Hundi, is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money brokers, operating outside of, or parallel to, traditional banking, financial channels, and remittance systems. Earlier on August 17, Khan asked his workers and followers not to pay any utility bills and taxes.
The tax collections by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and remittances from the overseas Pakistan are the two major sources supporting the economy of Pakistan. According to the data, in recent years there has been considerable increase in both FBR revenues and remittances sent by the overseas Pakistanis.