The State Bank of Pakistan has completed the digitisation of the Regulatory Approval System (RAS) for Foreign Exchange (FX) cases to support ease of doing business, said a press notification issued on Monday. The central bank commenced the ‘End-to-End Digitisation of FX Cases’ aimed to provide a digital platform to businesses. The project was divided into two phases. In the first phase, banks were linked with the ‘SBP FX Regulatory Approval System (RAS)’ on March 24, 2020; which enabled banks to submit FX-related cases electronically for regulatory approval of SBP and SBP-Banking Services Corporation (BSC). A total of 59,176 FX cases have been submitted digitally by the banks since the system was launched. In the facilitation to the business community, the banks developed portals to digitally receive FX cases from their clients for processing. The project was formally launched by the Governor SBP, Dr. Reza Baqir in a ceremony held on October 16, 2020, wherein SBP FX RAS and FX portals of 08 banks were showcased to the business fraternity. The project was successfully completed on June 30, 2021, when 27 banks, constituting 99.6pc of the industry’s FX business, launched their portals for digital submission of FX cases by their clients. The banks, on their part, have ensured that FX portals developed by them are secure, easy to use, and cover all FX-related requests. SBP and banks have put in efforts to create awareness among business customers through various media such as emails, SMS, print, electronic and social media. Moreover, to facilitate businesses and the general public in the adoption of FX portals, banks have also established dedicated FX helpdesks in their respective branches. Further, SBP, in coordination with the Pakistan Business Council and Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce, conducted two rounds of surveys to gauge the feedback of businesses regarding the banks’ FX portals, a press release said. The business community appreciated the central bank’s lead in digitising FX cases and largely expressed satisfaction over the ease being provided through the usage of FX Portals.