The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Friday that all branches of authorized banks will remain open on Saturday and Sunday (March 25-26) for the collection of Hajj application forms along with dues for Hajj 2023.
“In order to facilitate the prospective pilgrims to deposit application forms along with dues for Hajj 2023, the State Bank of Pakistan has directed 14 authorized banks to keep all their designated branches open. […] across the country,” the central bank said in a statement.
It should be noted that across the country, these branches remain open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Previously, in terms of Hajj Policy 2023, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Harmony has authorized 14 banks to collect application forms along with dues from prospective pilgrims for Hajj 2023 from March 16 to March 31 across the country.
The authorized banks include:
- National Bank of Pakistan
- Habib Bank
- United Bank
- MCB Bank
- allied bank
- Bank of Punjab
- Bank Alpha
- Zarai Taraqiati Bank
- Faysal Bank
- Askari Bank
- Bank Al Habib
- Habib Metropolitan Bank
- Soneri Bank
- Mezan Bank
ECC approves hajj policy
Earlier this month, the cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) nodded Hajj Policy 2023 and agreed to provide foreign exchange coverage of $90 million.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interreligious Harmony presented a summary on this before the meeting of the Cabinet Committee chaired by Federal Finance Minister and Tax Senator Ishaq Dar.
The hajj quota allocated to Pakistan for the year 2023 is 179,210, which would be split between the government and private hajj schemes in a 50:50 ratio, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance.
From the government and private hajj schemes, a quota of 50% each would be set aside for sponsorship schemes, it said, adding for the year 2023, the provisional hajj package for the northern region is Rs 1,175,000 and for the southern region is Rs 1, 165,000.