Daily Times

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, highlighting the significant signs of macroeconomic recovery in national economy, on Tuesday vowed that we are seeing positive momentum and we have to take it forward for sustainable economic stability.

The finance minister expressed the views while addressing the launching ceremony of Electronic Mortgage Register by Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and later talking to media persons on the occasion.

The new unified digital mortgage servicing platform of the SECP is an advancement in the automation of mortgage registration, modification, and termination processes and it is aimed at reducing transaction time, lowering cost and accelerating service delivery besides ensuring access to accurate and up to date mortgage information to lending financial institutions.

The minister while addressing the ceremony said, “With signs of macroeconomic recovery, including interest rates around KIBOR at 13% and the Pakistan Stock Exchange gaining over 1,000 points, we are seeing positive momentum. However, there is no room for complacency.”

He emphasized the importance of the development within the broader context of Pakistan’s economic stability and said, “Our goal is to establish permanence in macroeconomic stability, and this platform’s end-to-end digitalization will lead to shorter turnaround times, benefiting the overall economy.”

He elaborated that successful digitalization was not just about technology induction but it required the commitment of people, capacity building and streamlined processes. The digitalization reduces the human intervention and leads to greater transparency and better facilitation to the people concerned, he said and added that government was working on digitalization of Federal Board of Revenue that would help curtailing the corruption and extend better facilities to tax payers.

Sharing insights from recent international engagements in Washington, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the Senator Aurangzeb said that our multilateral and bilateral partners were ready and willing to support the Pakistan in efforts of economic stabilization.

“With billions in investments anticipated multilaterally and bilaterally, we must be careful about what we regulate and how we regulate. Our aim is to encourage investment without regulatory overreach,” he noted.

The finance minister while responding to media queries regarding climate financing informed that positive meetings were ongoing with multilateral partners and concrete results were expected soon. He also discussed potential improvements in Pakistan’s credit ratings to ‘single B’ by S&P and Moody’s and described that rating agencies look for macroeconomic stability and it might take three to four months.

Earlier, SECP Chairman Akif Saeed, in his address, highlighted the platform’s efficiency and potential impact on transparency and said that servicing of mortgages become easier for both lenders and borrowers.

He said that SECP was planning to expand the digital capability across corporate registration and end-to-end solutions while an AI model was also under development which will further enhance processing speed and accuracy.

The new mortgage servicing platform is part of SECP’s ongoing mission to support a business-friendly environment in Pakistan, enhancing ease of doing business (EODB) and reducing administrative delays to attract local and foreign investment, ultimately contributing to macroeconomic stability, he said.

The EMR launch ceremony marking a significant move of SECP towards a fully digitalized financial ecosystem aimed at fostering economic transformation was also attended by Chairman SECP Policy Board, Mehmood Mandviwala, former governor SBP Shamshad Akhtar, finance sector members, and media representatives.

Earlier, the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, also inaugurated Southern Regional Office of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) in Karachi. The finance minister along with Chairman SECP Akif Saeed and other senior official cut the ribbon and unveiled the plaque to inaugurate the SECP regional office at Karachi.

He visited different sections of the newly inaugurated office and directed to make the regional office fully functional at the earliest so that maximum facilities could be provided to the business community. He also assured his all-out support in the regard.