KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan has confirmed that after the introduction of withholding tax, transactions through cheques remained limited by account holders, as the total transactions through cheques slipped by Rs 8.0785 trillion in July.
Account holders limited their banking transactions through cheque, avoiding FBR charges. Bank deposits by account holders also dropped during this period, keeping in view the current scenario. On the other hand, banks’ income from bank surcharges also dropped.
Following the imposition of withholding tax in July, the national clearing system also faced low income through banking transactions. All banks in the country are operating through clearing houses working in 16 big cities.
These clearing houses are responsible for keeping daily record of all banking transactions through cheques.
In July, transactions worth Rs 19.0686 trillion were done through 4.525 million cheques. Transactions in July dropped by 28.75 percent in terms of cheques and 30.86 percent in terms of income as compared to June.
In June, transactions amounting to Rs 28.04665 trillion took place through 6.351 million cheques. Hence, around transactions to the tune of Rs 8.07854 trillion dropped in the month of July as compared to June 2015.
