November 18, 2022 (MLN): People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has appointed the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) as the clearing bank for Yuan in Pakistan.
Earlier this month, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the central bank of China agreed to boost bilateral trade and investment in Yuan, Chinese currency to reduce the reliance on US dollar-based payment settlements, and stabilize foreign exchange reserves.
The MOU was signed by Governor SBP Mr. Jameel Ahmad and Governor PBoC Mr. Yi Gang. The establishment of the RMB clearing arrangement in Pakistan will further boost the usage of RMB for cross-border transactions among Chinese and Pakistani enterprises and financial institutions. This will also promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries, a statement issued by SBP noted.
This move will help the Pakistani rupee (PKR) to get some ground back against the US dollar in the interbank market.
At present, the local unit is being traded at 223.25/ 223.35 per USD, down by 50 paisa or 0.22% DoD.
