Govt Approves Mechanism to Send Rs. 1 Billion to Pakistani Hospitals in Afghanistan

Pakistan on Tuesday approved the revised mechanism/modalities for the transfer of Rs. 1.009 billion funds to Afghanistan for the functioning of three Pakistani hospitals in Afghanistan. As per the details, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet under the chair of the Federal Finance Minister approved the revised mechanism/modalities for the transfer of Rs. 1.009 billion funds to Afghanistan for the functioning of three Pakistani hospitals in Afghanistan. Sources said that the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination submitted a summary regarding the transfer of the amount to the Government of Afghanistan for functioning /maintenance/equipment/salaries of three Pakistani hospitals in Afghanistan. The ECC after discussion approved the revised mechanism/modalities for the transfer of funds to Afghanistan as proposed by the Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC) with direction to attempt to release the amount in Pakistani rupees. As per the revised mechanism, the total amount already approved by the Cabinet for salaries of Rs. 1.009 billion would be transferred to Afghanistan in four tranches. The first tranche is to be transferred by the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of NHSR&C account. These funds would be transferred through MoFA and sent to the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul. Sources said that the Ministry of Health Services would also request Citi Bank to seek prior approval from the US regulator in New York for the transfer of funds to Afghanistan International Bank. Once the approval is received, the ministry would request NBP to initiate the remittance and the procedure would be adopted only for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tranches. The remaining three tranches would be transferred through banking channels to the Embassy account opened for the purpose of disbursement of salaries for doctors and other staff working in hospitals in Afghanistan constructed and operated by Pakistan.